Survivor video relives fatal plane crash

Footage released this week from a December plane crash that killed a Hawaii official shows water flooding the plane at the moment of impact.

The clip was taken by Ferdinand Puentes, 39, a passenger on the 2002 Cessna Grand Caravan that went down off the coast of Hawaii last month, killing Hawaii Department of Health Director Loretta Fuddy, 65.

Jacob Key, a passenger on the plane, told KITV things went wrong shortly after takeoff.

“We had a bang, ya know, while the thing climbed up, make a turn and bang, that’s it,” Jacob Key said. “After that the beeping from all the machine came up then after a few seconds, the beeping was gone and the plane is going down.”

Puentes told KHON he turned on his GoPro camera moments after the plane’s engine quit. The video shows the passengers calmly evacuate the plane as water floods around them.

“It just bit into me, like am I dreaming?” Puentes said.

There were nine people on board, including the pilot. The group floated in choppy waters for about an hour, clinging to debris to keep themselves afloat.

Puentes took a photo of himself with the plane in the background, with his life preserver around his neck.

“It was as if time stopped and everything you remembered in your past — loved ones. I didn’t say goodbye to them. Your whole life just goes in front of you,” he said.

Fuddy was the only fatality. She survived the initial crash, but died in the water, according to authorities.

The group was rescued by the Coast Guard and taken to Molokai, the island from which it had departed a short time before.

Contact Stephanie Grimes at sgrimes@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @steph_grimes