Woman pilot rescued

Press, 17 August 1984, Page 20

Woman pilot rescued

NZPA-AP Honolulu An American woman pilot on the first leg of a planned trip to New Zealand had to ditch her singleengine plane in the Pacific Ocean and has been rescued from a liferaft by a Soviet merchant vessel. Heidi Porch, aged 25, was ferrying the Cessna 182 from Oakland, California, to Hilo, Hawaii, when she radioed that the plane’s oil pressure was dropping. A Navy P 3 plane in the

area was diverted to escort the Cessna, which eventually ditched about 530 miles north-east of Hilo. “I started hearing this clack, clack, clack, and I knew the engine was going to quit,” Ms Porch said. “I started stowing everything that was loose in the cockpit, so that it wouldn’t hit me (on impact).” Her boss, Earl Covel of Trans-Air in Vacaville, was accompanying her in another Cessna.

She said the plane flipped over after striking the water, eventually resting with the tail up.

“I took one breath and was under water,” Ms Porch said. “My first thought was, ‘My God, I’m drowning*.” Ms Porch said she was able to get the plane’s liferaft inflated and away from the sinking plane as her companion circled overhead. She was picked up a few hours later.