HAWAI'I KAI — A husband and wife who ditched a small airplane in the ocean off Koko Head — possibly after running out of fuel — were rescued uninjured yesterday and reunited on shore less than 45 minutes later to share a kiss.

The 29-year-old husband was the last to arrive on land, delivered by a Honolulu fire rescue boat, then walked barefoot across the parking lot of Maunalua Bay Beach Park in Hawai'i Kai.

Sitting at the side of a fire engine, wrapped in a firefighter's turnout coat, was his 31-year-old wife. She had been airlifted to shore 10 minutes earlier in a basket dangling below the fire department's Air 1 helicopter.

Both of them declined medical treatment.

Witnesses and officials said the rescue had gone very smoothly.

"It looked like Honolulu's finest was doing its job," said Rainer Kumbroch, president of Roy's Restaurant on Kalaniana'ole Highway, who watched as the couple were returned to land. "We see a whole lot of activity out here with rescue helicopters. It's seldom good news."

The single-engine Cessna 150 radioed that it had an in-flight emergency and ditched about 5:53 p.m. two miles southeast of China Walls, the Coast Guard said.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA, said the couple had been the only two people on board.

"The pilot declared an emergency due to engine problems before he ditched his plane," Gregor said.

George Hanzawa, the owner of George's Aviation Service, said his company rented the 1968, two-seat Cessna to a pilot named Mike, who had the proper pilot's license. Mike and his wife Christina are from North or South Carolina, Hanzawa said.

George's had Mike take a "check-out flight" in the Cessna to demonstrate his skills before renting him the plane and a life raft.

"We provided the life raft," Hanzawa said. "That's what saved their lives. They took the right precautions, and used the right equipment. They did everything correctly."

Mike took off from George's, on Lagoon Drive, at about 7 a.m. with no specific destination, Hanzawa said.

Mike later told Hanzawa that the plane's fuel gauge had been flickering near empty, Hanzawa said.

"Just speculating, I think they ran out of fuel," he said. "It ran weaker and then quit."

The plane sank before rescue crews arrived. There was no sign of wreckage or water pollution from it, the Coast Guard said.

Firefighters spotted a life raft with the man and woman on board about two miles southeast of China Walls, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Paul Stankiewicz.

"Obviously for a plane crash, they came out of it pretty lucky," Stankiewicz said. "They were able to get out, get right into a raft and be rescued. They were shaken up a little bit. I'd say they were pretty lucky."

Last night, George's Aviation continued to operate, even with the loss of the Cessna, valued at about $30,000, Hanzawa said.

"We're still operating now," he said. "Why not? We never do nothing wrong. ... The loss of the aircraft is not even on my mind. The people are alive, and that's ultimately our goal. We provided them a safe, working aircraft, and safe, working equipment that allowed them to survive."

Police returned Mike and Christina to George's last night so they could pick up their rental car and return to their hotel.

George's, near Honolulu International Airport, offers aircraft rentals, flight instruction and charters, according to its Web site.

In January 2003, a 17-year-old student pilot in a Cessna 177B owned by the company crashed and died off of Moloka'i's Kalaupapa peninsula.

Chezray Hayes, a Mililani High School senior, was making his first solo interisland flight.

The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded the boy was flying was flying in conditions that required instrument training he had not received.

In 2006 a Piper Chieftain propeller plane operated by George's Aviation belly-landed at Lana'i Airport.

None of the four people aboard was injured.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com and Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.