What Happened Next - civilian aircraft sinks into the sea - Brief Article

Approach, Nov, 2000

Lt. Greg Collins of VS-41 and LCdr. Eric Hannum of the reserve unit that supports the squadron rescued the civilian pilot described in the article above.

Lt. Collins and LCdr. Hannum were en route from NAS North Island to Naval Air Landing Field San Clemente for an evening of FCLPs. During the transit off the coast off California, they changed course to assist the pilot of a twin-engine turboprop aircraft in distress. The pilot had been en route from Arizona to Carlsbad, Calif., when he became violently ill and passed out. After the events recounted above, the civilian pilot had regained consciousness and turned his aircraft back towards land. He was 200 miles out to sea, and radioed he wouldn't have enough fuel to make it to the closest airfield.

Lt. Collins and LCdr. Hannum closed on the civilian aircraft at 450 mph, but the pilot ran out of fuel and ditched at sea with the S-3B still approximately 60 miles away. Night had fallen, the sky was overcast, and the civilian pilot had no personal flotation device. After a 30-minute radar and visual search by the VS-41 aircrew, the downed aircraft was located with the pilot standing on top of the fuselage, waving a small flashlight. While Lt. Collins kept in visual contact with the pilot, LCdr. Hannum relayed the exact position of the downed aircraft to Air Traffic Control and nearby Navy units. The pilot was plucked from the sea by an SH-60B from HSL-43. His aircraft sank beneath the waves within five minutes of his rescue.

[Information in this article was issued by Naval Air Reserve San Diego as a press release, and credited in part to LCdr. Hannum, PAO of NR VS-41 FRS Detachment.--Ed.]