According to DCNewsroom, on Sunday, January 25, 2015, “The Coast Guard launched crews aboard an HC-130 Hercules airplane and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point,” to intercept a Cirrus SR-22 enroute from California to Hawaii that would be ditching – fuel starvation – in the Pacific Ocean “230 miles north east of Maui.” Airailimages put together Coast Guard video of the ditching and subsequent recovery.
Be sure to click over to DCNewsroom for the complete story.
That’s a pretty amazing video. And the parachute is a great safety feature. Just another reason why the Cirrus is becoming such a sough after and talked about aircraft.
Gotta wonder though, how did the pilot think he was going to make it from California to Hawaii? The SR-22 has around 1,200 miles range… and Hawaii is about 2,400 miles away. Come to think of it, how did he make it all the way to 253 miles out? According to another news story on this crash, this was the first leg of a journey he was making to deliver the aircraft to an Australian buyer…
Long-range ferry tanks would have been installed for the purpose of ferrying the aircraft to Australia. Even so, higher than expected headwinds while traveling west, or a problem transferring fuel can mean you’re going for a swim. It will be interesting to hear from the pilot as to why he didn’t turn back when that was still an option.