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February, 1997

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Mark Siegel is a lucky man. He was saved by sharks. And someone who knew how to read them (the sharks). And, of course, the Coast Guard.

The day after Mark ditched his rented Grumman while en route to Maui from Kona, a large-scale search was begun. HC-130s and HH-65s from the Coast Guard, several CAP aircraft, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary (myself included) were launched into several search areas stretching from Kona to mid-Kaiwi Channel between Moloka'i and O'ahu, and well south. Coast Guard vessels also conducted a surface search.

As we were doing our pre-flight, Heather Hamilton stopped by to say that she was flying to Hilo in N20031 (my ex-C-172) and would keep her eye out for Mark. As she was approaching Upolu Point, she saw well over a hundred hammerhead sharks milling around. Her former experience as a commercial fisher and fish-spotter kicked in and she circled back to see what was so interesting to so many hammerheads. Well, there was a trash line, and also, there was Mark. Unable to raise the Coast Guard, she asked Center to relay the position, which they did. About noon, an HH-65 plucked Mark out of the Alenuihaha Channel, about 19 nm from Upolu.

The hammerhead is reputed to be somewhat less aggressive when it comes to humans than cousin Tiger, and that's a very good thing if you happen to be in the middle of somewhere between 150 and 200 of them!

According to the report in the Star Bulletin, the little Grumman sank in under a minute. Mark did get his life jacket on, but he had no other signaling or survival equipment with him. Some major factors in his favor were the near-calm sea state and light winds. It's almost impossible to see a person bobbing around among white caps, and Heather might well have missed the sharks, and subsequently, him if the surface had been disturbed. Mark obviously handled himself extremely well he successfully ditched the airplane and survived over 24 hours in the water.

What if Heather hadn't happened along, with her shark sense? Would Mark have made it? Maybe. The search assets might still have found him, possibly in time. Or they might not have. Lessons learned? Well, I sure don't fly inter-island without a flight plan. I want someone to look for me as soon as possible.

Mark ditched at about 10:45 the day before he was found. The search wasn't initiated until first light the next day, following notification by his girlfriend that he hadn't shown up that afternoon in Maui. Mark had been in the water for 24 hours before Heather happened to see him, and then had to wait until an HH-65 could get to him! I also want them to look for me all night, if that's what it takes.

The "Remarks" section of the flight plan is what makes that happen. Indicate you have flares and/or a strobe light with you (you do, of course, right?) and they'll look for you after sunset. Otherwise, you will have to tread water until after first light. Many of you just get flight following from Center, believing that being on radar is even better than a flight plan with Flight Service. Only three problems with that: One is that there are still quite a few places with little or no radar coveragesuch as between Kona and Maui, below four or five thousand feet, and around Upolu, below about 8,000'. Two, you are on a workload-permitting basis, and the fact that you are no longer on Center's scope may not get an immediate reaction, especially in an area of spotty coverage. And three, no flight plan, no "Remarks" section to let would-be rescuers know to come look for you in the dark. My recommendation? File a flight plan (use the Island Reporting Service where you can) and talk to Center.

As an aside, I knew that hammerheads came to Kaneohe Bay to breed, but I didn't know where they went after that. I guess we know, now.

WINGS PROFICIENCY AWARD PROGRAM

PHASE I
Heinz De Couet
Wendell Tanaka
Craig Tsukiyama

PHASE I
Mark Ogden
Wayne Ohashi

PHASE II
Harrison Naukoong
Bert Oshiro

PHASE III
Richard Gallagher

PHASE VII
Charles Cantu

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