Richard Schuman (who seems to be the source for just about all these contradictory details...) says that the pilot who was circling overhead and called in to the airport tower saw 8 people in life jackets floating on the water, and one of the articles said that one person swam for help and the other 8 were pulled from the water. Maybe the guy had his life jacket on and swam for help after the pilot saw them and called the tower.
One of the stories had Schuman saying they initially thought everybody was OK, the implication being that Fuddy was accidentally left inside the fuselage, but that doesn’t fit with the story that Yamamoto told; he would have known she wasn’t OK. And the pilot would have known that there had to be 9 of them - especially if, as Schuman said, he was trying to keep everybody all together in the water. If he was doing that, he was counting people and had to notice that one was still in the fuselage if there were only 8 - and then 7 when the person swam to shore - people floating together in the water with life vests.
Seems like this Schuman has been making comments trying to shape perception to this or that excuse for her dying, but Yamamoto isn’t fitting in with that. Seems like Yamamoto is framing the story to be that she died of a heart attack once she was safely out of the fuselage.
#190
“Among the other passengers, three patients were flown to Oahu for treatment; two declined treatment and are staying in Kalaupapa, while three other patients were taken to Molokai General for treatment, according to Maui fire officials.”
3 + 2 + 3 = 8
And where did Fuddy go?
Thanks. I do suppose though that besides a heart-attack to explain Yamamoto’s account there’s also the small chance she took in a couple lungs full of brine (even despite the life-jacket) particularly if the water was choppy or if the plane exit was submerged when she escaped through it.