Relaxed and floating weightlessly below the crystal waters, the young couple were mesmerised by the aquatic life swimming around them and patiently sampling the splendours that the North Pacific Ocean had to offer. Small fish had cautiously swam up close to see what the strange air bubbling creatures were before darting away. A turtle drifted by offering a quick glance in their direction only to disappear into the distance. This was the first time that they had ventured into Scuba diving in tropical waters, usually settling for the colder, darker waters of the UK. At last, they were enjoying the dream trip that they had been looking forward to for so long. They had spent three weeks travelling the Hawaiian Islands and this was to be their last stop before heading home to the United Kingdom.

​

The adventure an agreed success, they reluctantly packed up their scuba gear and suitcases and loaded them into the back of the taxi. As they took a final glance across the moonlit ocean they noticed that it had a gentle swell, almost waving back to them. They knew that there was a very slim chance of returning and therefore took in every last second before getting into the taxi.

​

Later that evening, they arrived at Hana airport which was situated on the Eastern side of the island of Maui.  Although they referred to it as an airport, it was more of a small airstrip that provided only shuttle flights between the Hawaiian Islands with no customs or duty-free shop. In fact, it only had available a solemn vending machine within the waiting area and was the sole source of food and snacks to passengers. As the taxi pulled into the gravel parking area the young couple could see the small private charter plane parked on the runway. Their return flight had been pre-booked to take them back to the main airport in Honolulu for their connecting flight back to the UK.

​

They were greeted by their pilot who came to the taxi to help with the luggage.

‘Hey guys, I’m KeyKey and I will be your pilot this evening.’

​

He looked and sounded like a true Hawaiian, dressed in board shorts and a white short-sleeved shirt showing off his arms. They boarded the small PA-31 Navajo aircraft and headed for the runway. The take-off was noticeably bumpy but they soon flew up through the dark clouds before piercing out the other side and into the perfect blue skies above.

‘It’s a good time to be heading home, there’s a big storm coming bra,’

said the pilot.

​

Whilst attending his son’s third birthday party, KeyKey had received a call asking him to cover for a colleague who had been struck down with a virus. Keykey’s wife had asked him not to take the job but he was the type of person who always wanted to keep everyone happy, especially his wife.

‘It’s only a quick taxi back from Maui to Honolulu and I promise I will be back before you know it’ he reassured his pregnant wife before bending down and kissing her bump. Reluctantly she let him leave knowing that she would not be able to persuade him otherwise. He was now pleased to be back in the air and also on schedule, reassured that he would be home in time to watch NCIS with his wife before bed. After just ten minutes into the flight, the couple noticed the pilot tapping repeatedly on the plane’s instrument panel. They could also see that the navigation systems had started fluctuating in all directions before suddenly becoming stable once again. KeyKey banked the plane around to the left and realised that the navigation display had not moved an inch. Once again, he banked the plane but this time to the right although still, the dials remained central. The pilot realised that something was wrong and, deciding not to take any chances, he turned the plane around. Confidently he reassured the young couple that this sort of thing had happened many times before and that they simply needed to switch aircraft and that they would be back in the air in no time at all. However, inwardly he was thinking how annoyed his wife was going to be when he returned home late.

He continued to reassure his passengers and boasted that he was able to navigate those skies with eyes closed and could even get them to Honolulu without referencing the dials. However, he was legally bound to return the aircraft or he could have lost his licence for breaking the pilots' protocol. He decided to drop below the cloud line so that he could get his bearings from the islands below. He slowly pressed the stick forward and began a gradual descent. As they continued to drop lower, KeyKey once again reassured the young couple that as soon as they were below the clouds, they would see the wonderful sights of the Hawaiian islands directly ahead of them. He reduced the plane to one thousand feet and as they slowly broke through the cloud, visibility was suddenly restored. However, the lights of Maui were nowhere to be seen. KeyKey frantically looked out of both sides but all that could be seen in every direction was the vast ocean. The couple started to feel nervous as they too looked out of the windows on each side.

‘Shouldn’t we be able to see Maui?’

the young man asked.

A panic came across KeyKey as he now felt less confident of his nautical skills. He tried to justify the situation to his passengers explaining that they must have flown further in the wrong direction than he first thought,. He added that if he were to remain on a straight course they would be back to the islands in no time. He checked the fuel gauge which was now dropping and he knew that he had less than thirty minutes to locate the islands and land the plane. Typically, the aircraft was only ever fuelled to allow enough for the flight duration plus a small contingency to cover emergencies. He was now thankful for that little extra.

​

He turned the transponder to emergency code 7700 and attempted to notify Honolulu Air Route Traffic Control Centre.

‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is flight PAPA DELTA ROMEO 371 from Maui heading to Honolulu, we have lost all navigation systems and fuel is down to 80 nautical miles. Our last known heading was on 9⁰ 50’E.’

He waited for a response but all that could be heard was a constant crackling over the airwaves. He repeated the call but still, there was nothing. He scanned the horizon hoping for a glimmer of just one light from land or sea but only water could be seen in every direction. He noticed that the two passengers were starting to panic. KeyKey realised that it was his duty to remain calm for his passenger's sake and so remembered his training. Fortunately, it was a legal requirement for pilots to role-play these types of situations each year to maintain their licence. In his head, he heard the voice of his instructor,

‘In the event of an emergency with the aircraft, stay calm, reassure your passengers, radio through to air traffic control,  look for a suitable alternate landing strip. If this is on the water then try and make sure you have provisions ready and lifejackets donned.’

This was so much easier when you are just pretending and sitting on wooden chairs in the middle of the staff canteen he thought to himself. However, he immediately put his training into action and explained the situation calmly to his passengers who were now feeling and looking extremely anxious.

‘I might have to set the plane down on the water. I am confident that I can pull this off but I will need your assistance,’ he said calmly.

He then instructed the young couple to locate and put on their scuba equipment which was stowed at the back of the plane and to pack flares and anything else that could be useful into the waterproof sack.

‘Attach the buoy from the cupboard below to keep it afloat’ he instructed.

They unclipped their seat belts and hastily moved to the rear of the plane to locate their scuba equipment now thankful that they had paid the additional costs to transport their own scuba tanks instead of renting them at each and every dive location. They had easily changed into their dive suits so many times over the years although they had never experienced the difficulty of doing so in such a tight space. They now found themselves in fear of their lives, hurriedly trying to squeeze into their suits in the back of a small aircraft, one that was tilting from side to side and whose engines were running on fumes. Quickly, they packed flares, bottles of water and a medical kit into a sack. Suddenly, a warning light appeared on the fuel indicator informing the pilot that it was now only a matter of minutes before he would have to make an emergency crash landing somewhere in the middle of the North Pacific ocean. He made one last attempt at the mayday call shouting,

‘We are going down’ before quickly putting on his lifejacket.

He shouted to the young couple to position themselves on the floor between the seats and to brace for impact. They looked across at each other with fear in their eyes and tightly held hands across the aisle.

‘I Love you’ he mouthed to his beautiful fiancé as he came to terms with the reality that this could be their final moment together. The tears streamed down her face and she repaid the gesture. Suddenly the left engine started to splutter and stall. The pilot struggled to hold onto the stick as the plane started to shake and, what seemed like only seconds later, the right engine stalled with the blades slowing before finally stopping completely. The howling engine noise was now replaced with the sound of the air wrapping itself around the plane as it started to glide. KeyKey continued his mayday call. Now the tone of his voice had changed from panic to a calmer tone of hopefulness. They were now at only two hundred metres above sea level and were gliding swiftly towards the vast ocean. KeyKey shouted again,

‘Brace yourselves for impact!’ .........