Ditching and Coast Guard Rescue Filmed in Progress

A pilot ferrying a Cessna 310 from Monterey, California, to Hilo, Hawaii last week (October 7), ran out of fuel 13 miles from shore and was forced to ditch in the ocean. Charles Brian Mellor, 65, of Spain, was 11-1/2 hours into his flight and 500 miles from Hawaii when he radioed for help. A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules was dispatched to intercept Mellor and followed him for an hour, advising him on how to ditch. Video of the ditching was shot from the Hercules, and the rescue was filmed by a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. Mellor was treated for minor injuries and released from a Hilo hospital.

Read the Coast Guard report

Read more from The Monterey Herald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJadO...layer_embedded

A pilot ferrying a Cessna 310 from Monterey, California, to Hilo, Hawaii last week (October 7), ran out of fuel 13 miles from shore and was forced to ditch in the ocean. Charles Brian Mellor, 65, of Spain, was 11-1/2 hours into his flight and 500 miles from Hawaii when he radioed for help. A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules was dispatched to intercept Mellor and followed him for an hour, advising him on how to ditch. Video of the ditching was shot from the Hercules, and the rescue was filmed by a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. Mellor was treated for minor injuries and released from a Hilo hospital.