The US Navy is planning a delicate operation to remove a P-8A jetliner that crashed into a coral reef in Hawaii on November 20. The plane, which was on a training mission, overran the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and landed in environmentally sensitive Kaneohe Bay.
The Navy has already removed nearly all of the estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel from the plane and is now working to lift the plane off the reef with inflatable cylinders. The operation is expected to begin on Saturday, weather permitting.
Contractors have slid the bags under the plane, and when inflated, they will float through the water to the runway. Once they reach the ground, the machines will pull them up and roll them onto the runway.
The Navy is confident that the operation can be carried out without further damage to the reef. The force of the plane will be distributed over the entire area of ​​the bags, so there will only be 3 to 5 pounds of pressure at any given point where they hit the ground.
After the plane is removed, Hawaii state officials will examine the reef for damage. Kaneohe Bay is home to coral reefs and a wide variety of marine life, from sharks to octopuses and fish. The area is home to an old Hawaiian fish pond that community groups are restoring.
The Navy is using a similar method to remove the aircraft that was used to remove a 1,000-ton barge from sensitive seagrass habitat on North Carolina's Outer Banks after Hurricane Florence in 2015. The plane, about 60 tons, is much lighter than the barge.
The Navy expects the plane to fly again. The P-8A, the military version of a 737 jet, is used to search for submarines and conduct surveillance and reconnaissance.
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