U.S. Navy Plane Misses Runway, Lands in Water

A U.S. Navy maritime patrol aircraft crashed into the ocean in Hawaii's Kaneohe Bay on Monday afternoon after overshooting the runway.

The crew of nine had been preparing to land at a U.S. Marine Corps air station on Oahu, the island that's home to the state capital Honolulu, according to reports.

The air station is responsible for the repair and operation of aircraft at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. It also plays an important role in the readiness of the American military's aviation assets in the Pacific.

"The aircraft was landing and overshot," Marine Corps Base Hawaii spokesperson Lt. Hailey Harms told USNI News. Subsequent images showed the 129-foot-long plane—a P-8 Poseidon—partially submerged in the shallow waters of the bay.

The Marine base deployed firefighters, military police and waterfront personnel to the scene, the report said. None of the P-8's nine crew members suffered apparent injuries, according to Harms.

Harms said it had not yet been determined which agencies would investigate the cause of the incident.

Navy divers "worked overnight to help stabilize the aircraft," according to a statement sent to Newsweek by the U.S. Third Fleet, based in San Diego. They concluded that the plane was structurally intact and found no evidence of fuel leakage, it said.

The crew of the P-8 was Patrol Squadron-4, also known as the "Skinny Dragons," and is based in Washington state, the Third Fleet said.

The runway at Kaneohe is relatively short, and wind or bad weather might have been contributing factors, aircraft expert Peter Forman told Hawaii News Now.

"The pilot probably didn't put the plane down exactly where he wanted to on the runway," he said. "It's probably a combination of all those factors put together."

Locals residents told the outlet that they were concerned about the effect the crash might have on the environment.

"I think someone needs to take a look at the impact the plane is doing to our marine life. There is jet fuel, anti-freeze and other toxins," said Jon Karina.

The military blocked off the crash site with booms to hem in potential spilled fuel but has not shared an environmental impact assessment, Hawaii Now News said.

The P-8 is a multirole aircraft adapted from the Boeing 737. It's commonly used for reconnaissance missions but is designed to perform a range of other operations, such as anti-submarine warfare, search-and-rescue and anti-surface warfare.

In June 2021, Transair Flight 810, a Boeing 737, ditched into waters off the coast of Hawaii. The captain of that cargo flight was seriously injured and the first officer suffered minor injuries.

After an investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the crash had occurred due to the pilot's heavy workload and poor communication between the pilot and co-pilot.

In February 2022, the Pentagon charged four Navy sailors over leaked footage that showed an F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet crashing off the deck of an aircraft carrier into the South China Sea.

Update 11/22/23, 3:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement by the United States Third Fleet.