Dear Source,
I was on my way out of Ensenada Honda (Culebra's harbor) when the Seaplane experienced their incident with the loss of an engine and happened to follow the entire series of events over the ship-to-shore (VHF) radio.
In short, I was extremely impressed with the way the pilot(s) handled the situation. They were calm, clear and seemingly focused on all the correct areas of potential concern.
There was never, ever any sign of panic. Quite to the contrary, the prioritization of concerns and the clarity with which they communicated the issues left me with an enhanced sense of comfort that the pilots are true professionals who know exactly how to handle any potential emergency.
While I'm sure that the experience was unnerving to some passengers, they sure seemed to be in good hands every step of the way and my impression was that, if anything, the pilots most certainly erred on the side of caution. In addition, the US Coast Guard's response from San Juan via radio was full and complete and similarly left one with confidence that we're in good hands in the event of a seaplane related emergency.
Hurdle H. "Trip" Lea III
St. Thomas, VI
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