Apparent airplane oxygen mask washes ashore in Garden City
GARDEN CITY, S.C. (WPDE) — A local woman made an interesting discovery that could be linked to a recent tragedy.
"Well, you don't think walking on the beach that you would come across something that washes up," said Shannon Keevert.
Keevert, a photographer, is referring to a single white tennis shoe and an oxygen mask that appears to be from an airplane. She stumbled upon the items while looking for things to shoot in Garden City. Keevert posted the photos to Facebook Sunday, and the post has since gotten thousands of shares.
The posts also led to feedback on a possible connection to a plane that crashed off Charleston last October. In late October, a Piper PA-31 departed Robert F. Swinnie Airport in Georgetown County bound for the Bahamas. It disappeared from radar about 110 miles east of Charleston. For days, the U.S. Coast Guard scoured thousands of square miles, but debris from the presumed-crashed plane was never located.
While an official link to the plane crash hasn't been made, the daughter of a man on board the ill-fated plane is asking for the public's help.
RELATED: 'Emergency! Emergency:' NTSB report on plane presumed downed off Charleston released
The man's daughter, Brooke Hensley, says investigators told her they thought the plane didn't break apart.
"There was not even a speck of debris recovered," said Hensley.
She believes the oxygen mask may be from the downed Piper PA-31, of which her father was a passenger.
Hensely believes the shoe Keevert found on the beach may belong to her father, and she hopes someone can help her identify the brand.
Meanwhile, Hensley is asking residents along the Grand Strand and those along the coast in the Lowcountry to email her photos of any debris they come across while walking along the beach. You can send her an email at N555PMInfo@gmail.com. She also urges people to hold onto anything suspicious they find on the beach that may be connected to the crash.
"Keep it-- don't let the tide take it," she pleaded.
Calls to the National Transportation Safety Board for comment on the findings were unproductive, as their communications person is on furlough due to the government shutdown.
