Mokulele Airlines, the FAA and the Hawaii legislature came\ntogether recently to honor two pilots \u2013 Capt. Justin Constantino and First\nOfficer Jeremy Delia \u2013 who helped rescue two pilots from a downed plane eight\nmiles off the coast of L\u00c4\u0081na\u2018i on Feb. 27. The two pilots were recognized at a\nspecial ceremony outside the Mokulele Terminal at Honolulu International\nAirport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Constantino and Delia\u2019s quick and life-saving decisions led\nto the rescue of a flight instructor and student pilot who had ditched their\nplane in the Pacific Ocean. Mokulele Airlines flight 715 had just departed\nL\u00c4\u0081na\u2018i for Honolulu when the crew spotted the distressed aircraft going down\nshortly after takeoff from the L\u00c4\u0081na\u2018i Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mokulele airplane diverted from its flight plan and\nproceeded to the last known coordinates of the distressed aircraft. The crew\nthen enlisted the help of the passengers to keep multiple eyes on the two\ncrewmen who were floating in the Pacific until airlifted out by a Coast Guard\nhelicopter. The pilots were in the ocean for nearly two hours before help\narrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery rarely do circumstances like this have happy endings,\u201d\nsaid Stan Little, chairman and CEO of Southern Airways Corporation.\n\u201cRecognizing our crew for their swift actions and presenting each of them a\nRolex provided by an anonymous passenger on the flight is something I will\nnever forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That anonymous business executive was on his honeymoon\nleaving The Four Seasons Resort when he and his wife were enlisted to keep\nwatch on the distressed pilots. As a token of his appreciation for taking place\nin the life-saving event, he insisted on recognizing the heroism of the\nMokulele crew by presenting each of them with the rare Rolex Aviator\nwristwatch. The presentation was a surprise to the pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FAA issued a special proclamation in honor of the\nMokulele pilots:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour outstanding recent actions upheld the highest\nstandards of airmanship and reflect the greatest credit upon yourself, Mokulele\nAirlines, and the Hawaii aviation community. During the February 2021 ditching\noff Lanai, your noteworthy professionalism and situational awareness enabled\nyou to review detailed water ditching procedures and calm the distressed pilot\nby radio. As nightfall approached, you thereafter served as primary airborne\nSAR liaison through Honolulu control facility until being relieved by a Kamaka\nCaravan. Your on-the-spot initiative was pivotal in averting a potential\ntragedy. Accordingly, the Honolulu Combined Safety Assurance Office &\nFlight Standards District Office, on behalf of the Federal Aviation\nAdministration, offer their gratitude and take great pleasure in presenting\nthis commendation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we saw the airplane going down, our instincts kicked\nin, and we were fully-committed to saving lives,\u201d said Mokulele Capt. Justin\nConstantino. \u201cIt was a tragedy that unfolded right before our eyes, and we knew\nwe had to remain vigilant until the Coast Guard arrived. Thankfully for all\ninvolved, the two pilots were saved, and catastrophe was averted. We are\nforever grateful that we could help bring these people safely back to shore.\nThis calamity had a very happy ending.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mokulele Airlines, the FAA and the Hawaii legislature came together recently to honor two pilots \u2013 Capt. Justin Constantino and First Officer Jeremy Delia \u2013 who helped rescue two pilots from a downed plane eight miles off the coast of L\u00c4\u0081na\u2018i on Feb. 27. The two pilots were recognized at a special ceremony outside the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hawaii"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18140,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18139\/revisions\/18140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}