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WHO: Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu Ocean Safety Department
WHAT: Joint press briefing about rescue of missing 17-year-old kayaker off Waikiki
WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024
WHERE: Hale Kinai Ahi Auditorium, Honolulu Fire Department Headquarters, 636 South St., Honolulu, HI 96813
HONOLULU – The Coast Guard, Honolulu Fire Department, and Honolulu Ocean Safety Department are scheduled to discuss the rescue of a missing 17-year-old kayaker during a joint press briefing in Honolulu Thursday.
Coast Guard Sector Honolulu watchstanders were notified by Honolulu Fire Department personnel at 7:27 p.m. Wednesday that a 17-year-old boy had gotten separated from his high school paddling team approximately one-half mile south of Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort. The teenager had reportedly capsized on a 20-foot surf ski and was not wearing a life jacket.
Sector Honolulu watchstanders issued an urgent maritime information broadcast, launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and HC-130 Hercules airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, and launched a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu to search for the missing teen.
At 4:03 a.m. Thursday the airplane crew located the kayak with the teenager clinging onto it, deployed a flare to mark the position offshore the War Memorial Natatorium, and directed a nearby good Samaritan boater to the location. The good Samaritan, an off-duty lifeguard with the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department, rescued the boy from the water.
At 5:25 a.m., the off-duty lifeguard transported the 17-year-old to Emergency Medical Services personnel at Ala Wai Harbor, where he was treated for injuries and hypothermia and transported to an area emergency room. He was in serious but stable condition.
Involved in the search were:
- Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
- Coast Guard Sector Honolulu
- Coast Guard Station Honolulu
- Honolulu Fire Department helicopter and boat crews
- Honolulu Ocean Safety Department
- Honolulu Airport Fire Rescue
- Honolulu Emergency Medical Services
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