PORT ANGELES — When Elston and Jackline Hill headed for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Midway Islands this spring, they didn’t know how much of an adventure they were in for.
After a week of scouting out an island full of albatrosses and other wildlife, the Port Angeles couple and their group of 15 took off on March 29 in a small charter plane bound for the Hawaiian Islands, about 1,250 miles away from the isolated atoll.
Just an hour into the trip there was an ominous thump, Elston said.
“I just thought, ‘uh-oh,'” Jackline added.
“The first officer — who is like a co-pilot — told us that, as we probably guessed, one of the engines had gone out.
“They had alerted Japan because they were the closest entity that would be able to come for us if there was going to need to be some sort of rescue.”
The next 15 minutes were tense for the previously drowsy passengers, Elston said.
Cockpit lights blinking
“There was no cockpit [partition] and I was in the front seat,” he said. “I could see lights start blinking in the cockpit.
“There was a noticeable decline in the noise level in the plane, but finally I was relieved to hear some engine noise. The pilot and co-pilot donned oxygen masks.
“My wife saw the co-pilot go down a check list and say something about landing at an atoll. The plane began to descend rapidly.
“The cabin was very quiet, but later I found out that everyone thought we were going to make a landing at sea.”
And then the plane turned around and made a precarious return to Midway.
Bird preserve
Only workers for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife — mostly from Thailand — live or work on the atoll, which is now a preserve for the birds.
Because of its isolation and lack of habitants, finding a plane to pick up the stranded passengers was not an easy task.
“The next morning we were told that it would be at least 48 hours before we could expect to get off the island,” Elston said.
“The only comparable planes were in Alaska, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
“The crew of any of these planes would need a 24-hour required rest stop when they reached Honolulu and they would have to pick us up at night because of the number of birds on the island.
“Our group of 15 took this in stride along with plenty of gallows humor jokes.
‘Incredible wildlife
The couple saw the enforced stay as an opportunity for additional time to observe Midway’s “incredible wildlife,” Elston said.
They spent a couple of extra days on the island and then stayed in Hawaii, arriving home in Port Angeles on April 7.
While on the island, the group — which, along with the Oceanic Society, is one of very few to visit the island since Fish and Wildlife began to manage the former military site — spotted monk seals, bottlenose dolphins and many, many birds.
“The birds have these elaborate mating dances that they do when they are looking to find a partner,” Elston said.
“It is really interesting to watch how they move their feet and position their winds.”
Even more interesting was realizing that the albatrosses with white feet did different dances than those with black feet, he said.
“Just a short while of watching and you will see the difference.”
The Hills frequently take exotic vacations to places like Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and the Galapagos Islands.
“Friends joke that my wife and I take ‘once in a lifetime trips’ three or four times a year,” Elston said.
“This trip ranks high on that list.”
They post photos and information about their trips on the Web site www.elstonhill.com.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
