Pilot found 750 miles from O'ahu

Advertiser Staff

A Coast Guard airplane from Hawai'i last night spotted the pilot of a Cessna that ditched yesterday about 750 miles south of Honolulu.

The pilot, treading water, was able to climb into a raft dropped from a Coast Guard C-130 plane about 7:30 p.m., Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney said.

A private ship, the P&O Nedlloyd Los Angeles, responded to a Coast Guard call for assistance and was expected to reach the pilot and pick him up about 2 a.m. today.

The plane was one of two Cessnas that took off from Hilo yesterday, bound for Pago Pago, American Samoa. The FAA said the pilot, 67-year-old Ray Clamback of Australia, reported engine trouble before the Cessna 182 went down about 11:30 a.m.

The airplane is registered in Australia, according to the FAA.

The Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu launched a C-130 airplane from Air Station Barbers Point, which arrived at the site of the debris about 3 p.m.

The P&O Nedlloyd Los Angeles was expected to take Clamback to Christmas Island, and a Coast Guard C-130 may bring him to Honolulu if necessary, Delaney said.