HONOLULU (AP) — Harry Chandler, a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base, has died. He was 103.
Chandler died Monday at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida, according to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Chandler had congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death.
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FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., attends the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - From left, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, from left, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab salute while the national anthem is played during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, 102, left, and Herb Elfring, 101, talk during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., leaves the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., speaks to the media during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II.
He told The Associated Press in 2023 that he saw the planes approach as he was raising the flag that morning at a mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which is in the hills overlooking the base.
“I thought they were planes coming in from the states until I saw the bombs dropping,” Chandler said. His first instinct was to take cover and ”get the hell out of here.”
“I was afraid that they’d start strafing,” he said.
His unit rode trucks down to attend the injured. He said in a Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview that he boarded a boat to help pluck wounded sailors from the water.
The harbor was covered in oil from exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors off after lifting them out. He said he was too focused on his work to be afraid.
“It got so busy you weren't scared. Weren’t scared at all. We were busy. It was after you got scared,” Chandler said.
He realized later that he could have been killed, “But you didn’t think about that while you were busy taking care of people.”
The attack killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank nine minutes after it was bombed.
Chandler's memories came flowing back when he visited Pearl Harbor for a 2023 ceremony commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the bombing.
“I look out there, and I can still see what’s going on. I can still see what was happening,” Chandler told The Associated Press.
Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, he said: “Be prepared.”
“We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better,” he said.
After the war Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother. He also joined the Navy reserves, retiring as a senior chief in 1981.
Chandler was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lived for most of his adult life in nearby South Hadley, Mahaffee said. In recent decades he split his time between Massachusetts and Florida.
An avid golfer, he shot five hole-in-ones during his lifetime, his grandson-in-law added.
Chandler had one biological daughter and adopted two daughters from his second marriage, to Anna Chandler, who died in 2004. He is survived by two daughters, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated that there were some 87,000 military personnel on the island of Oahu the day of the attack. With Chandler’s death only 15 are still living, according to a tally maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
Bob Fernandez, who served on the USS Curtiss, also died this month, at age 100, and Warren Upton, 105, who served on the USS Utah, died last week.
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This story has been corrected to show that Chandler was survived by two daughters, not one.
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., attends the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - From left, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, from left, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab salute while the national anthem is played during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, 102, left, and Herb Elfring, 101, talk during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., leaves the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., speaks to the media during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot of a small plane attempted to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff before crashing through the roof of a building in Southern California, according to air traffic control audio that includes panicked gasping and a female voice saying, “Oh my God,” moments before the crash.
The crash Thursday left two people dead and 19 injured. The plane was owned by Pascal Reid of Huntington Beach, California, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The Huntington Beach High School girls soccer team posted Friday on Instagram that Reid and his daughter Kelly, a student at the school, died in a plane crash.
“Yesterday our soccer family suffered an unimaginable loss,” the post read. “Kelly was a natural caregiver and always put others first. She will be deeply missed. Her father was at every single game, always so proud of his daughter.”
The coroner's office hasn't yet identified the dead or confirmed they were on the plane.
The plane had just taken off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport when the pilot told the air traffic control tower, “Immediate landing required.”
The pilot initially told the air traffic controller that he planned to land on Runway 6. The air traffic controller then told another aircraft to turn away from that area and told the pilot he could land on either Runway 6 or 24. The pilot responded that he was going to land on Runway 24 instead. Moments later, panicked gasping and an “Oh my God” could be heard just before the audio went quiet.
Federal investigators said the aircraft asked for a return to the airport at about 900 feet (274 meters). It crashed about 1,000 feet (305 meters) short of Runway 24, through a sprawling furniture manufacturing building owned by Michael Nicholas Designs.
According to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report, the aircraft crashed under “unknown circumstances.”
Eleven people were taken to hospitals, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said. The injuries ranged from minor to very serious, said Michael Meacham, Fullerton deputy chief of fire operations.
Security camera footage from Rucci Forged, a wheel manufacturer across the street, shows the plane was tilted on its side as it dove into the building, causing a fiery explosion and a black plume of smoke.
Chris Villalobos, an airport operations worker, said the airplane’s owner was a regular at the airport with his own hangar and had frequently taken off from there.
The FAA identified the plane as a single-engine, four-seat Van’s RV-10, a popular home-built airplane sold in kit form. Investigators said the aircraft was built in 2011.
Tim Olson, an aviation enthusiast and an early purchaser of the RV-10 plane kit, said he had exchanged emails with Reid over the years and knew him as a “diligent, responsible” pilot and aircraft builder. Olson said the RV-10 had become popular as an “easy-to-build” plane from a reputable kit manufacturer. He said he has flown more than 1,500 hours on his own plane, even taking it to the Cayman Islands.
“It’s real sad to hear that it ended this way for him,” Olson said. “I know from talking back and forth that he did travel, camped out with his plane around the country a bunch.”
Reid's daughter Kelly is listed on school sports websites as a junior at Huntington Beach High School who played flag football, soccer and lacrosse.
The airport in Fullerton has one runway and a heliport. Metrolink, a regional train line, is nearby and flanks a residential neighborhood and commercial warehouse buildings.
The Fullerton City Council posted a statement on social media calling the crash a “solemn tragedy.”
“The City of Fullerton is committed to providing support for all those affected and working with the agencies involved to uncover the details of this incident,” Mayor Fred Jung said in the statement. “We are grateful for the strength of our community and the compassion we show one another in times of crisis.”
Another four-seat plane crashed into a tree a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from the airport in November while making an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, The Orange County Register reported. Both people on board suffered moderate injuries.
Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 people about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
A mourner weeps as they are embraces before a memorial service at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, Calif., Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, for those killed in a small plane crash the day before. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Mourners arrive for a memorial service at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, Calif., Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, for those killed in a small plane crash the day before. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Daniel Villalbazo, left and Efrain Romero show photos on their mobile phones, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif., after witnessing a plane crash the day before at the warehouse of a commercial building where the accident happened. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Workers line up to enter a warehouse of a commercial furniture factory to collect their belongings Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif., where a small plane crashed the day before. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
People attend a vigil at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, for those killed in a small plane crash taking off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport the day before. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP)
Mourners embrace before a memorial service at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, Calif., Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, for those killed in a small plane crash the day before. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
People stand outside of a building where a plane crash occurred Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Workers stand near police lines at the scene of a small plane crash, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
A firefighter enters a building where a plane crash occurred Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Firefighter stage outside a building where a plane crash occurred Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Firefighter walk down a ladder outside a building where a plane crash occurred Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Firefighters load a person onto an ambulance after a small plane crashed into a commercial building on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Firefighters stage outside a building where a plane crash occurred, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Firefighters respond to a commercial building where a small plane crashed on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A woman is carried on a stretcher near the site of a plane crash, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Fullerton, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
