Posted on: Sunday, January 26, 2003

Plane missing en route to Maui

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

A teenager who was flying a plane from O'ahu to Maui yesterday was reported missing after he failed to arrive at his intended destination.

Coast Guard aircraft searched throughout the afternoon and into the evening for Chezray Hayes, 17, of O'ahu, and the Cessna 172 he was flying. The search is expected to resume this morning.

Telephone checks confirmed that Hayes, who departed Honolulu at 11:30 yesterday morning, had not reported in at any other airport in the Islands, Coast Guard officials said.

He was last heard from at 12:15 p.m., when he checked in with Moloka'i tower, said Chief Petty Officer Craig Dente, a Coast Guard search-and-rescue mission coordinator.

Hayes was flying just north of Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, when he radioed in, Dente said. He reported no difficulties at the time.

Visibility over the northern coast of Moloka'i was poor yesterday afternoon, Dente said, with cloud cover varying from 500 feet to 1,500 feet. Winds were at 10 to 12 knots.

The boy had about 30 hours of flight experience and was flying solo in the four-seater aircraft.

He was flying VFR, or visual flight rules, Dente said, and was free to deviate along his route. Had he gone directly to Kahului, Maui, he would arrived at about 12:45 p.m.

Aviation authorities reported him overdue at about 1 p.m., Coast Guard officials said.

The plane, owned by George's Aviation Services, was equipped with a number of safety devices, including flares, onboard and personal electronic location transmitters, and an inflatable boat, Dente said.

Hayes also had a cell phone and a radio on the plane.

Coast Guard aircraft had not picked up any electronic distress signals from the automatic transmitters by late yesterday evening.

Hayes' parents, who live on O'ahu, were notified of their son's disappearance early yesterday afternoon, Petty Officer 3rd Class David Mosley said.

Coast Guard officials kept in touch with the distraught family into the evening, apprising them of the progress of the search.

A Coast Guard Dolphin HH-65 helicopter crew searched the northern Moloka'i and Maui coasts until shortly before nightfall, assisted by several civilian airplanes, Coast Guard officials said.

The Dolphin returned to Barbers Point as a C-130 Hercules aircraft crew, with more extensive night-vision equipment, took over the search.

The Hercules crew returned at about 8:15 p.m.

Coast Guard officials said visibility is expected to clear in the morning, when the helicopter will resume the search.