U.S Navy Removes Fuel From Surveillance Plane That Landed In Environmentally Sensitive Bay

Per a video released by the U.S. Coast Guard, tires from a huge plane that has been stalled in a Hawaii harbour for over a week are lying on parts of a coral. The Navy issued a statement on Wednesday while it works on a strategy for removing the aircraft.

The nine people on board weren’t injured when the aeroplane landed in the shallow water at Marine Corps Base Hawaii based in Kaneohe Bay on November 20.

Video Credit: AP

Honolulu is around 10 miles away from the base. The Navy is looking into what led the plane to miss the runway.

The film shows two points of contact the aircraft makes with the coral and the rest of the aircraft that was floating above, according to the Navy. Tires are visible on the coral as tiny fish swim via rock cracks in the video.

According to Rear Admiral Kevin Lenox, a Navy team successfully extracted nearly all the plane’s projected 2,000 gallons of fuel.

Commander Mark Anderson, who’s in charge of the Navy’s mobile diving and recovery unit at the spot, explained that the plane has been resting on a mix of coral and sand.

The left-hand engine is supported by coral. The plane reportedly rises a little with the tide, so the plane’s whole weight isn’t on the coral, he explained on Monday.

Kaneohe Bay has long been home to coral reefs, a historic Hawaiian fishpond, and breeding grounds for hammerhead sharks. According to Wayne Tanaka, the Sierra Club of Hawaii Executive Director, the footage highlights potential reef destruction.

He said it validates what they have suspected: a jet plane on a coral reef. They have no idea how much it moved or how much it might move.

Once the plane has been removed, state environmental experts plan to undertake a damage assessment.

Reference: wgnradio

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