Plane Crash!

Yesterday, we left our mooring ball at James Island to make our way to Stuart Island, about 20 miles away. About an hour into our journey, a PAN PAN call came over the VHF radio. When you hear someone say “PAN PAN PAN” on the VHF radio, you pay close attention. It means two things. One, someone is in urgent need of help, and two, you are quite close to them because you can hear them on the short-range VHF radio (which means they are probably within a few miles). I captured some of the VHF audio and will include trimmed versions of it in the following.

The Coast Guard said there was a report of a plane crash between Jones Island and Orcas Island and for any vessels in the area to assist (Listen). We’d be passing this spot along our route, but we were still about 10 miles away. The currents were against us by then and it would take us about 2 hours to get there.

We don’t know how many people were on the plane, how big it is, or what type. But there are many small planes in these islands and some are seaplanes. So, if it was a seaplane, I figured they’d have a good chance of survival.

I cleared the cockpit table in case we’d need to jump into action, but it only took about ten minutes before the Coast Guard reported that there were already about 8 boats at the location. We could only hear the Coast Guard side of the calls because they have a more powerful transmitter than allowed on boats. They asked that all vessels on site saturate the area as best as they can. We understood by now that the plane had sunk and likely had people aboard.

As we got closer to the site, we started hearing the other side of the radio calls. Someone was asking if they needed more help, but it would take them 30 minutes to get there. The Coast Guard stated the number of vessels already on site and the boat captain said he’d not go to the scene. I was relieved that we would not likely need to assist. With the potentially wicked currents here, you really need the power of a motor boat to safely scour an area.

As we rounded Orcas Island, we saw a helicopter flying nearby and then circling the north-eastern tip of Jones Island. We heard the pilot ask the boats below to go to channel 23 alpha. We followed and listened as we watched the searching boats. A Tow Boat US vessel was on-scene and was taking the lead. They said there was oil coming up around them so they thought they were over the site. But their side-scan sonar was only picking up a kelp bed. The helicopter directed them 20 feet away where they saw a different color on the seabed that looked like a wing or fuselage and bubbles coming up (Listen).

The woman on the boat agreed that is looked like the wreckage and the Coast Guard asked if they had a spare anchor they could tie a float to and mark the site (Listen). They said it was in about about 18 feet of water. The helicopter as running low on fuel and had to go back to base. It had become clear to us that the plane had crashed and sunk and no one was indicating any survivors.

Last night the news reported the vintage Air Force T-34 Mentor airplane had crashed with only the pilot onboard. This morning, we found out that the pilot, Apollo 8 astronaut William “Bill” Anders, perished in the crash. He was 90 years old and a resident of Orcas Island.

A man visiting the islands saw the plane flying by was a vintage Air Force plane and was taking a video of it when it went down. The news report and video shows it doing an inverted loop, not pulling up in time, hitting the water, bursting into flames, and then sinking about 80’ off Jones Island.

Our heart and prayers go out to the family and friend for the loss of this American Hero.