SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A pilot on a solo flight from Hawaii to California died Friday when his small airplane plunged into the Pacific Ocean during an emergency water landing attempt, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Three Air Force parajumpers attempted a rescue in chilly waters about 300 miles off the coast of Monterey, but found the body of Kelvin Stark of New Zealand in the submerged cockpit of his overturned plane, said Veronica Bandrowsky, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
Stark had attempted a water landing Friday morning after reporting that he didn't have enough fuel to make land, Coast Guard Lt. Geoff Borree said. An airborne Coast Guard crew that coached him through the landing via radio watched and waited to drop him a raft, Borree said.
After Stark didn't emerge, the Coast Guard called in the parajumpers, an Air Force plane and a commercial vessel that was the closest ship around to assist in a deep sea rescue. The jumpers arrived about three hours later.
Because of rough sea conditions, the rescue team wasn't able to recover Stark's body, Bandrowsky said.
Borree, who was part of the seven-member rescue team, said it was unclear whether Stark was knocked unconscious on impact or became trapped in the plane.
Stark was delivering the single-engine PAC 750XL aircraft to a company that converts planes for skydiving.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the accident.