Two Suva hotel workers rescued four people after their Cessna 172 light aircraft crashed in Suva’s bay of islands.
Waisake Madigi and Jese Cava, both staff members of Tradewinds Hotel (now Novotel Suva Lami Bay), swam about 20 metres to the sinking plane, smashed the cabin windows with an oar and dragged out injured pilot Ravindra Singh, 27, before freeing his three passengers.
Their lifesaving efforts were reported by The Fiji Times on November 24, 1981.
The first passenger rescued was Clive Porter.
He was taken ashore in an open punt before he was driven to hospital by Christine Stinson, while the rescuers struggled to free the remaining two passengers.
The other two passengers, Tommy Hong, Kerry Thomas, and the pilot were later driven to hospital.
Mr Porter was operated at the CWM Hospital as his condition was described as serious, the report stated.
The other three survivors were in a satisfactory condition.
The wrecked plane was salvaged from the sea and taken to a Lami yard for inspection.
The three passengers had chartered the Turtle Airways aircraft from Nadi airport when their Air Pacific flight to Nausori was cancelled because of bad weather.
Mr Porter and Mr Thomas were due to stage a watch promotion program at the Tradewinds Hotel and had chartered the plane to get to Suva.
Mr Hong, who had just arrived on a continental flight from Honolulu, came to visit his sister, Meehaw Fong, of Suva.
He was approached by Mr Porter and Mr Thomas to join them on the charter flight.
“I don’t know why I had to come with them,” Mr Hong said when interviewed at the CWM Hospital.
Mr Serupepeli Rokotuiloma, a Lami resident who was bailing out his boat only metres from the scene of the crash, said he noticed the aircraft flying very low.
He watched as it hit telephone wires and power lines. After going into a spin, and crashing into the sea.
Pieces of the aircraft ripped off by the power lines were strewn around the shore area.
The Fiji Times understood that the pilot had intended to land at Nausori but found the weather unfavourable.
He was reported to have headed to Deuba, but after finding that conditions were equally bad there, decided to return to Nausori.
The report stated he was believed to have lost his way.
Mr Hong said they knew there was something wrong when the pilot began to fly at a very low altitude.
He asked the pilot why he was flying so low but was not given an answer.
“At no time before the crash did the pilot tell his passengers of the difficulty he might have been facing,” Mr Hong said.
Vono Sia and Unaisi Batirerega, who were employees of Tony Philip, and whose home was closest to the scene, said they heard a loud crashing noise.
When they ran outside, the aircraft was already beginning to sink.
They helped the passengers out of the boat, took them into the house and wrapped them in blankets.
Luggage taken from the aircraft was kept in the house until police officers took it into custody.
Mrs Batirerega said the first passenger they helped, Mr Porter, was crying out for help and said he was cold.
Mrs Stinson, who drove one of the passengers to the hospital, also reported she noticed the aircraft flying low above the cement factory in Lami.
