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Concerns are growing over military transparency and potential environmental damage to Kaneohe Bay’s coral reefs and marine life after a Navy P-8A aircraft ended up in shallow water while trying to land at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The plane — based out of Whidbey Island in Washington — remained surrounded Friday by “containment booms” designed to prevent hazardous materials leeching from the plane and into the bay and ocean.

Environmentalists and elected officials expressed frustration that the Navy’s latest comments on Monday’s mishap came out of San Diego and not directly from Kaneohe-based Marines — especially following criticisms that the Navy for years covered up fuel leaks at its Red Hill storage facility that contaminated Oahu’s drinking water.

But U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who lives in Kaneohe and represents rural Oahu, said Col. Jeremy Beaven — commanding officer of Marine Corps Base Hawaii — texted her after the failed landing Monday to set up a phone call with her that evening. Beaven then invited Tokuda to tour the landing site today before she flies back to Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Although the Marines are attached to the Navy, Tokuda said Beaven expressed “a real feeling of personal responsibility. Col. Beaven expressed that ‘this is our community, too.’ I just really appreciate that.”

Tokuda hopes that on Monday — one week after the failed landing — either the Marines or Navy announces a timeline to remove the plane and plans to address any environmental concerns.

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The next phases will need to ensure that no further damage to the environment occurs, but “the public will expect some kind of statement,” Tokuda said.

“That is what the public expects and what the public demands,” she said. “But we need to make sure we do not do further harm in trying to remove the vessel.”

The Navy’s Third Fleet, based out of San Diego, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an email Friday that sailors from the Navy’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1 spent Thanksgiving in and around the P-8A helping “to assess, investigate, and plan the safe, expeditious and environmentally protective recovery of the aircraft” and recovered the plane’s flight data recorder.

The divers also surveyed the plane to evaluate its structural integrity, along with the coral reef and the bay’s ecosystem. But the Navy did not disclose what the divers found.

Previously, in a statement Wednesday, the Third Fleet said, “Preliminary assessments indicate the aircraft to be structurally intact, and there have been no signs of fuel leaking.”

It said, “Primary and secondary containment booms have been deployed,” “Hydrophobic absorbent material” was in place to help absorb potential pollutants and that “specially trained base personnel continue to observe and monitor the area” around the clock looking for pollutants and monitoring impacts on wildlife.

Wayne Tanaka, executive director of the Sierra Club, grew up fishing in waters on and around Kaneohe Bay and expects the Marines and Navy to fully disclose any environmental damage and announce plans and timetables to address any impacts.

“We’ve had all kinds of transparency issues with the Navy’s response to Red Hill and other places across the islands and across the Pacific,” Tanaka said. “There needs to be a full disclosure of any hazardous materials and impacts on the ocean bottom and reef. Because public access is restricted around the base, those waters could act as a refuge for fish and marine life, which then feeds the surrounding area along the bay and the coastline. It’s pretty abundant: veke, oio, papio, awa awa. There are good octopus grounds.”

State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kaneohe-Kailua) lives on the mauka side of Kaneohe Bay from the Marine Corps base and free-dives for marine life in waters that are typically only 20 to 30 feet deep, leading to concerns that the plane smashed into coral reefs.

Keohokalole asked the Marines to provide updates directly to the community and to elected officials, and was also disappointed that the last update came from the Navy in San Diego.

Given the Navy’s reputation and record following the Red Hill spills, Keohokalole said, “I would expect them to do so, to bend over backwards. That’s my expectation given everything that’s happened. I don’t want to imply suspicion that doesn’t exist. But people are listening very carefully about what the Navy is saying and what the Navy is going to do.”

He hopes the P-8A caused no environmental damage.

But given the plane’s footprint, stature and its shallow-water landing, that could be unlikely.

Keohokalole wants the Marines to quickly find out “what happened to the reef and what are you going to do about it?” he said. “It’s the Marine Corps’ responsibility to manage those natural resources. I’m not the only one whose attention is focused on what happened to the reef.”

The Boeing-built Poseidon was based on a 737 air frame and stands 42 feet tall, with a wingspan of nearly 124 feet and a length of nearly 130 feet, according to the Navy.

It can be armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles and has a maximum takeoff weight of 189,200 pounds, according to the Navy.

The Navy uses the P-8A Poseidons assigned to Whidbey Island’s “Skinny Dragons” Patrol Squadron 4 for multiple assignments including submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Sometime around 2 p.m. Monday, amid cloudy and rainy weather, the three pilots and six crew members overshot their landing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and ended up in the water instead.

No one was injured.

David Henkin spent 11 years on the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board, including as its chair, and understands Kaneohe Bay’s importance.

“That’s a critical, critical resource for the people of the Windward side and a very sensitive resource for the environment,” he said. “Kaneohe Bay is a very important resource for people for food and has great cultural and biological significance.”

Henkin is now senior attorney for the Earthjustice law firm, which fights on behalf of the environment and also worries how transparent the military will be in response.

Henkin appreciates that the mishap was an accident.

“But they (the Navy) need to learn from their past mistakes,” he said. “They’re our guests here, and they need to be good guests and good stewards of the resources. I would be shocked if there wasn’t some damage from the impact and fuel and other things leaking from that aircraft.”

The Navy, he said, “needs to provide accurate, timely information to the public and elected officials and state agencies” and not “hide information under the guise that it’s part of an investigation. The military needs to compensate the state of Hawaii for the damage they’ve done. They don’t get a free pass.”

The day after the water landing, Navy admirals Tuesday told the state Water Commission that they are committed to “being open and transparent” about Red Hill, Henkin said.

“But talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words,” he said.

Now, on the other side of the island, Henkin said, “We’re seeing the impact on precious, coral reef resources.”

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The Navy war plane that slid off a runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii a week ago while trying to land in rainy weather continues to rest in shallow water about 100 feet off the runway, with at least two points of the 42-foot-high P-8A sitting on coral reef.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda — who lives nearby in Kaneohe with her husband and two school-age sons — toured the site Saturday and said the plane was unarmed when it missed its landing and ended up in water so shallow that the plane’s doors “are completely above water,” Tokuda told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday.

Even before the P-8A mishap, the Marines already had a boom in place around the runway as a precaution to prevent contaminants from leeching into the ocean, Tokuda said.

“The plane essentially slid into the water,” Tokuda said. “It literally slid right into that boom like a lei.”

The plane has since been surrounded by a second boom, along with “hydrophobic absorbent material” designed to absorb potential toxic material from the plane.

But Tokuda said she saw no sheen on the surface of the water indicating potential leaking during her hourlong visit to the runway Saturday.

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“The water was absolutely clear,” she said.

She indicated the direction of her nearby house to Navy and Marine Corps officials and emphasized the importance of communicating to the public about their plans to remove the plane, prevent any further environmental damage and “to get it right.”

“They need to over-communicate, over-test and over-engineer to consider every possible scenario,” Tokuda said she told the Navy and Marines. “This is not about rushing. This is about doing it right. They need to consider every possible scenario.”

Instead, neither the Navy’s Third Fleet in San Diego nor the Honolulu-based Pacific Fleet responded to multiple requests for comment Sunday on what Tokuda told the Star-Advertiser. But the Third Fleet said a news conference is scheduled for today.

The lack of public information over the botched landing and its environmental impact on Kaneohe Bay and the ocean has exacerbated frustration among some environmentalists and other elected officials following the lack of transparency over years of fuel leaks at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility that contaminated Oahu’s water supply, leading Tokuda and others to demand greater candor about information regarding the P-8A failed landing and its impact on the environment, including plans to remove the plane and ensure no further damage.

Sometime around 2 p.m. Nov. 20, amid cloudy and rainy weather, the three pilots and six crew members of the P-8A based out of Whidbey Island in Washington overshot their landing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and ended up in the water.

No one was injured.

The Navy uses the P-8A Poseidons assigned to the “Skinny Dragons” Patrol Squadron 4 for multiple missions including submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The Boeing-built Poseidon is based on a 737 airframe and stands 42 feet tall with a wingspan of nearly 124 feet and a length of nearly 130 feet, according to the Navy.

It can be armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles and has a maximum takeoff weight of 189,200 pounds, according to the Navy.

The Poseidon resting offshore of Marine Corps Base Hawaii “is not armed,” Tokuda said. “There’s no weaponry of that nature on board.”

Tokuda said she emphasized the community’s concerns to the Navy and Marines about the mishap in Kaneohe Bay, a site of cultural, environmental and marine significance.

“I pointed out where my house is,” she told military leaders Saturday. “This is literally our backyard. As a lifelong Kaneohe resident and parent, this is personal for me. This is a long conversation. How do we make sure this never happens again?”

Tokuda said she was impressed by the response, which includes 24-hour surveillance, Navy divers inspecting the plane, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, state Health Department “and pretty much everyone who should be at the table … from the first day.”

“It’s good to know the state has been actively involved,” Tokuda said.

Boeing officials are also being consulted about how best to remove the plane, Tokuda said.

“They are literally looking at every scenario that preserves life and safety and the environment, in that order,” she said.

Flight operations at Marine Corps Base Hawaii already were reduced last week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but the military has since diverted some flights from the base out of concern that wind shear from takeoffs and landings could shift the position of the downed P-8A and cause more problems, Tokuda said.

The military, Tokuda said, continues to review “double and triple safety measures.”

Ezekiel Kekuna became the latest local kid to grace the Big Apple’s biggest stage, making his Broadway debut Dec. 5 as Young Simba in “The Lion King.”

“My first performance and my first week was great and went well, and I had this rush of adrenaline on stage,” the Kapunahala Elementary School sixth grader said. “Just seeing the audience and the big stage with all the props and all the costumes was very exciting to me.”

The opportunity — which Ezekiel said is like a dream — required two online auditions and a coaching session, and culminated in an in-person final callback in New York.

Ezekiel found out the good news soon after the last stage of his audition process, where he sang his song and was asked about what his favorite part about Hawaii was, to which he responded, “No pollution or car honking.”

On the walk back to their hotel from the final callback, Ezekiel’s mother, Sarah, got a call from the show’s casting director.

“(The casting director) and I had a little conversation about how I was doing good and how I was great in the final callbacks, and she said, ‘I have bad news,’ so I think my expression on my face went from happy to ‘Oh no,’” he recalled. “Then she said, ‘I guess you’re going to have to get used to the pollution in the air, cars honking and people smoking. Do you know where I’m going with this?’ and I said, ‘I think so.’ Then she said, ‘Congratulations, you got the role as Young Simba on Broadway!’”

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“Me and my mom were crying and bawling our eyes out, and we were hugging each other so tight. I was going through a roller coaster of emotions,” Ezekiel said. “I literally went back to our hotel and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’”

For Sarah, her son debuting on Broadway “really was never a plan or even a dream,” but rather a chance opportunity.

“We just feel very grateful for this blessing and for this opportunity,” she said. “Our kids have just grown up in the theater and just have truly loved performing arts, and this opportunity just happened to come along.”

This role is far from the Kaneohe native’s first — his roots lie in the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation’s summer program, which he has participated in every year since 2018, and in 24-VII Danceforce studio.

Most recently, he performed as Fletcher in Diamond Head Theatre’s “The Bodyguard.”

Ezekiel’s ties to the local theater community run deep – both of his older siblings are involved in the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation and 24-VII as well. His mother, Sarah, also trained under Ronald E. Bright, former Castle High School drama teacher and namesake of the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation, and also danced for 24-VII. He said that his mom is “probably where I got my passion and interest for performing arts.”

“It’s really this Bright Kid family and this 24-VII family. Everyone is so close and so supportive,” Sarah said. “They’re not just important to Ezekiel, but they’re a part of our family and important to me as well.”

Members of these “families” also helped to prepare Ezekiel for his final callback — fellow Bright Kids Kimee Balmilero and Miguel Cadoy ran lines and helped with his singing before his fateful flight to New York.

Balmilero, who was a member of the Original Broadway cast of “Mamma Mia,” said she “can’t imagine” what it feels like to perform on Broadway at Ezekiel’s age.

“A lot of people don’t get to make a Broadway debut,” Balmilero said. “It’s just so great that he’s experiencing this now, and anyone that gets to see him, they’ll see right away that he belongs.”

But beyond the technical skills, the values infused into Bright’s teachings also proved invaluable.

“Mr. Bright always instilled in us to always just be kind and be good people, and to always do your best. He always took this art seriously, but he also always made us feel loved and supported in anything that we did, and that’s what we try to teach our children, too,” Sarah said.

Ezekiel’s family and friends were present in the audience throughout his first week – including his mom, his grandparents, and friends from his Bright Kid and 24-VII families.

Bright’s grandson, who lives in New York, was also able to attend and represent the Bright family at Ezekiel’s debut performance — something Sarah said was “extra special.”

U.S. Navy officials confirmed today that a team of military and civilian experts has successfully raised the P-8A Poseidon airplane from Kaneohe Bay and back onto the Marine Corps Base Hawaii runway.

The $1.5 million salvage operation began at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and the aircraft was floated next to the runway by 10:18 a.m., officials said. By 7 p.m. Saturday, the nose wheel was lifted out of the water and the entire 130-foot-long, 60-ton P-8A was back on the runway.

“Our team went through a detailed planning process to develop the best course of action to get the P-8 out of the bay as quickly and as safely as possible,” Rear Adm. Kevin P. Lenox, the salvage operation’s on-scene commander, said in a news release today. “The entire process took 13 hours. Most of the day was spent making small adjustments to the roller bags and the aircraft position to minimize impact to the coral band adjacent to shore. At times it took us an hour to move the aircraft five feet.”

Officials said Navy Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, working with local and off-island specialists, and supporting Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Salvage teamed up to handle the delicate retrieval of the plane, which overshot the runway while attempting to land in rainy conditions on Nov. 20.

The P-8A crew, assigned to Whidbey Island, Washington-based Patrol Squadron “Skinny Dragons,” was on a maritime homeland defense mission when the aircraft overshot and ended up in Kaneohe Bay. The three pilots and six crewmembers on board safely evacuated the aircraft with no injuries reported.

The event has alarmed environmentalists, bay users and Hawaii leaders who are concerned about damage to the coral reef and other possible harmful effects of the large plane sitting in the water for nearly two weeks.

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Navy officials say the incident is under investigation.

A NAVY plane has crash-landed in the water near Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii after overshooting a runway.

Nine people were onboard the large military aircraft when it slammed into the bay at 2 pm near Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

All nine people onboard made it to shore without injury, officials said.

Wild photos showed the Navy plane floating in shallow water after the military mishap.

What led up to the crash-landing wasn't immediately clear and an investigation was launched.

The plane, a P-8 Poseidon, is used for military surveillance and intelligence gathering.

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DEEP TROUBLE

It is manufactured by Boeing and features many of the same parts as 737 commercial jets.

The downed aircraft is part of the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state.

At one point, patrol squadrons were based at Kaneohe Bay, but they currently deploy to Hawaii on a rotational basis.

Marine Corps Base Hawaii is located about 10 miles from Hawaii's capital, Honolulu, and houses approximately 9,300 military personnel and 5,100 family members.

Conditions were cloudy and rainy around the time of the crash and visibility had dropped to about 1 mile, Thomas Vaughan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu, told the Associated Press.

Aircraft expert Peter Forman believes that bad weather and shorter runways may have played a part in the mishap.

“The pilot probably didn’t put the plane down exactly where he wanted to on the runway,” Forman told local TV outlet Hawaii News Now.

“It’s probably a combination of all those factors put together.”

Witnesses were shocked by the sight of the plane in the water.

Diane Dircks, 61, and her family were on a pontoon boat trip when the rainy weather cut the excursion short.

“We went running over to the end of the dock, and I took some pictures,” she told AP.

Sirens rang everywhere, and her daughter was able to give her a closer look since she had binoculars.

“It was unbelievable,” she said.

The U.S. Sun contacted the Marine Corps for comment.

More than a week after a U.S. Navy surveillance plane overshot a runway in Hawaii and landed instead in an environmentally sensitive bay, new video footage shows tires from the large aircraft are resting on parts of a reef, officials said. The Navy released the footage Wednesday as it works on developing a plan to remove the plane from the water.

There were no injuries to the nine people who were on board when the plane, a P-8A Poseidon, landed Nov. 20 in shallow water just offshore of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay along the northeastern coast of the island of Oahu. The military base is about 10 miles from Honolulu.

The underwater footage shows the "two points of contact the aircraft has with the coral and the remainder of the aircraft floating above," the Navy said. The video shows tires on the coral as tiny fish swim through rock crevices.

A Navy team removed nearly all of the estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel on the plane, Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox said Monday.

"The team extracted all the fuel that they could get out of those tanks. This process was completed successfully without any fuel being released into the bay," he said at a news conference, adding that removing the fuel would reduce risks for the rest of the salvage operation.

Cmdr. Mark Anderson, who is leading the Navy's mobile diving and salvage unit working at the site, said the plane was sitting on a mixture of coral and sand. The left engine is resting on coral. The plane rises a little with the tide, so the full weight of the plane is not on the coral, he said Monday. Anderson noted at the time that while the landing may have damaged the coral somewhat, there did not appear to be "massive chunks missing."

Kaneohe Bay is home to coral reefs, an ancient Hawaiian fishpond and a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks.

Sierra Club of Hawaii Executive Director Wayne Tanaka said the video underscores potential damage to the reef.

"It confirms what we've known: We have a jet plane sitting on coral reef," he said. "We don't know how much it moved, how much it could move."

State environmental officials expect to conduct a damage assessment once the plane is removed.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources said it was still waiting for approval from the military to access the land, but officials do not plan to issue fines for environmental damages because the overshot landing was deemed an accident, Hawaii News Now reported. Navy officials have said they hope to fly the P-8A again once it is removed, because the plane is filled with expensive surveillance equipment, according to the station.

On Monday, Lenox said the Navy was considering two different potential methods to remove the aircraft from Kaneohe Bay. One possible option could be to float the plane and position it within the range of a crane set up on the runway, which would lift it and then set it down on its landing gear once the plane was on land. The gear was still in good condition, he said. Another possible option would involve floating the plane on top of cylinders and rolling it up onto the runway.

The Navy is investigating what caused the P-8A, which is the military version of Boeing's 737 passenger jet, to overshoot a runway. It had been flying in rainy weather when the incident happened.

Peter Forman, an aircraft expert, told Hawaii News Now last week that the shorter runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, plus winds and bad weather, could have played a role in why it occurred.

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

The Navy has come under intense scrutiny in Hawaii for its environmental stewardship and transparency after jet fuel leaked from a World War II-era fuel storage facility into Pearl Harbor's drinking water in 2021. Some 6,000 Navy personnel, their dependents and civilians complained of physical ailments after the spill. After mounting pressure, the Navy agreed to drain the tanks, an operation that is currently underway.

A large Navy aircraft overshot the runway at a U.S. Marine base in Hawaii on Monday, landing in the water.

Nine Navy personnel were inside the plane that landed in Kaneohe Bay just before 2 p.m., according to base spokesperson Hailey Harms. All nine people returned to shore safely and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the incident was under investigation.

Harms said the aircraft "did overshoot their landing" on the base's runaway, about 10 miles from Honolulu.

The crew inside were part of a Washington based squadron VP-4 "Skinny Dragons" stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state, according to the Marine Corps.

"First responders and emergency crews acted immediately to conduct an initial assessment and employed a temporary floating barrier, which is used to protect the environment," Marine Corps spokesperson Mohammad N. Issa said in a statement.

More about the plane that landed in Kaneohe Bay

Harms said the plane was an 8A, which operates with a smaller crew and has a wingspan of about 124 feet, according to the Navy’s website.

The Boeing P8A Poseidon's primary purpose is reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. It is manufactured by Boeing and shares many parts with the 737 commercial jet.

The aircraft is "equipped with state of the art radars, sensors and a new air-to-air refuel capability," the site says.

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Witness to P8A's water landing says 'it was unbelievable'

Diane Dircks of Illinois told The Associated Press that she and her family had just returned to a dock after rainy weather cut their pontoon boat trip short when her daughter saw the plane in the water.

Shortly after, they heard sirens, and the family used a pair of binoculars to look at the plane and the rescue boats arriving.

“It was unbelievable,” she said.

The U.S. Navy said Monday that it has removed nearly all of the fuel from a large surveillance plane that overshot a Hawaii runway and landed in an environmentally sensitive bay, but it doesn't have a timetable for when it will get the aircraft out of the water. The surveillance plane was flying in rainy weather when it landed one week earlier in Kaneohe Bay along the northeastern coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox said there was an estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel on board the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

"The team extracted all the fuel that they could get out of those tanks. This process was completed successfully without any fuel being released into the bay," Lenox said at a news conference. Removing the fuel will reduce the risks for the rest of the salvage operation, he said.

There were no injuries to the nine people who were on board when the plane landed Nov. 20 in shallow water just offshore of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. The base is about 10 miles from Honolulu. Marine Corps spokesperson Gunnery Sgt. Orlando Perez told the Associated Press after the landing that he did not have information about what caused the P-8A to go off the runway.

Cmdr. Mark Anderson, who is leading the Navy's mobile diving and salvage unit working at the site, said the plane was sitting on a mixture of coral and sand. The left engine is resting on coral. The plane rises a little with the tide, so the full weight of the plane is not on the coral, he said.

Kaneohe Bay is home to coral reefs, an ancient Hawaiian fishpond and a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks.

There may have been some minor damage to the coral but there didn't appear to be "massive chunks missing," Anderson said. Still, the focus currently is on stabilizing the plane and developing a plan to move it, he said.

State environmental officials expect to conduct a damage assessment once the plane is removed.

The Navy is studying two options for moving the aircraft, explained Lenox.

The first is to float it and get it within range of a crane on the runway. Then it would be lifted onto the runway and set down on its landing gear, which is still in good condition. The second option is to float it on top of cylinders and roll it up onto the runway.

Lenox said the Navy has three priorities while it does this work: safety of the salvage crew, protecting the environment and preserving the capability of the aircraft.

The Navy now has three temporary floating barriers around the P-8A aircraft at its resting spot to prevent any potential fuel spill or other contaminants from polluting the ocean.

The Navy hasn't had indications or reports that any fuel leaked from the plane, Lenox said. The Navy also tested the removed fuel and found that no water had seeped into it, which indicated the plane's fuel system was still intact.

In addition to the floating barriers, the Navy has placed material around the plane to help absorb any potential pollutants and provide early warning of petroleum spills. The Navy has also kept a skimmer on standby so it can remove any pollutants quickly.

On Thursday, sailors retrieved the data recorder and conducted a hydrographic survey to assess the plane's structural integrity.

The Navy has come under intense scrutiny in Hawaii for its environmental stewardship and transparency after jet fuel leaked from a World War II-era fuel storage facility into Pearl Harbor's drinking water in 2021. Some 6,000 Navy personnel, their dependents and civilians complained of physical ailments after the spill. After mounting pressure, the Navy agreed to drain the tanks, an operation that is currently underway.

Lenox said he is aware of the distrust in the community toward the Navy and is striving to be transparent. He said the state of Hawaii's on-scene commander observed the defueling of the plane and requested that the Navy install a third temporary protective barrier around the plane. The Navy complied.

The Navy uses P-8A planes to search for submarines and to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance. Manufactured by Boeing, the plane is a military version of the 737 passenger jet and shares many of the same parts. It is roughly the same size as the Airbus A320 passenger jet that, piloted by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York in 2009. Some noted similarities between the earliest images of the Navy plane in Kaneohe Bay and those of the "Miracle on the Hudson."

The Navy plane is assigned to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Patrol squadrons were once based at Kaneohe Bay but now deploy to Hawaii on a rotating basis.

The base is one of several major military installations on Oahu. Peter Forman, an aircraft expert, told Hawaii News Now after the overshot landing that the runway at the base sitting on Kaeohe Bay is shorter and winds and bad weather could have played a role in the mishap, too.

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

The Navy has flown out another P-8A from Washington state to carry out patrol duties in place of the incapacitated jet. It is flying out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, on the other side of Oahu.