Sad news about Allen Chung

Post general kiteboarding discussion topics here!
Post Reply
User avatar
sflinux
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts:291
Joined:Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:02 pm
Location:ocean beach
Contact:
Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by sflinux » Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:20 am

Saw the posting originally at kiteforum:
Title: Sad news from Maui, Fatal Accident, My condolences
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2391692
Text:
"Not sure what happened or cause
My condolences to family and friends

KAHULUI, MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) -
Ocean Safety personnel, firefighters and police responded to reports of a kite surfer seen floating face down offshore of "Kite Beach," just west of Kanaha Beach Park at around 3:50 p.m. on Thursday.

Ocean safety personnel on rescue watercraft searched and found a male victim face down and unresponsive in the white water of the surf zone, about 400 yards outside the Kahului Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A passing kite surfer stopped and assisted the ocean safety officer with bringing the victim to shore next to the treatment plant.

Firefighters and paramedics initiated CPR on the male victim but despite all life-saving efforts, the man could not be revived and died at the scene.

Kite surfers in the area saw the man face down in the water and came ashore to call for help.

Kahului firefighters and Ocean Safety personnel from Kanaha Beach Park responded to the incident.

KAHULUI, Hawaii -
Maui police say a 47-year-old San Francisco man died after he was pulled from waters off Kanaha Beach in Kahului on Thursday.

Police were called to the scene at around 3:52 p.m. A man was reported to be floating face down in the ocean.

Police say bystanders tried to assist the victim to shore. However, due to the strong winds and surf, they were unable to.

Lifeguards, paramedics and firefighters pulled the man to shore. Despite lifesaving efforts, the man died at the scene.

The man was identified as Allen J. Chung. Cause of death is pending autopsy results."

User avatar
Aloha
Old School
Old School
Posts:1514
Joined:Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:45 pm
Location:the beach
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Aloha » Sun Feb 14, 2016 12:18 am

I saw this last night and was shocked and saddened. I always remembered Allen to be such a nice guy at Crissy over the years riding there. Blessings of strength for his family & friends. ?#"_ I will miss his bright light on the beach by the Golden Gate {}[] Aloha

Tony Soprano
Resident
Resident
Posts:741
Joined:Sat May 19, 2007 7:29 pm
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Tony Soprano » Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:55 am

For anyone interested in donating to his family with three little children (ages: 5yrs, 3yrs and 8 months old): https://www.paypal.me/forAllen

ALLEN CHUNG
12688212_10153386398020905_7005216086732110886_n.jpg
12688212_10153386398020905_7005216086732110886_n.jpg (75.53KiB)Viewed 11444 times
Last edited by Tony Soprano on Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Bob
Regular
Regular
Posts:446
Joined:Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Bob » Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:58 am

My condolences and prayers to Allen's wife and children.

John Doe
Contributor
Contributor
Posts:19
Joined:Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:34 pm
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by John Doe » Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:10 am

Very very sad, my condolences as well.

In the interest of learning from this I'm offering up what I've heard from 3 experienced people who were at Kanaha that day, one of whom was a friend that sped in off the water & called 911. His buddy told him to do that while he went back after him. I don't know who that person is.

Additionally, I was in the water that day not far from there & the surf was huge. This was the swell they were going to run the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Contest on. I would say the surf on the outer reefs was 3-4x overhead. Surfline's forecast (which I believe is based of wave faces) was something like 26-32'. From what I saw at other breaks that seemed correct. The consensus is that there's a deceiving spot at Kanaha that can get really huge surf. Some people tend to think that since there is a series of reefs, which take the energy off each wave, it can tend to be safer-smaller down there. NW swells can also get partially blocked by west Maui, taking more of the energy off them. Partially true. There's also a shallower spot further out that can get very heavy, a lot of water moving across it & you can get worked easily. The wind was NNE which is more onshore than normal. Normal direction is NE or E. Meaning it was more difficult to head out perpendicular to the waves - which would give you time to outrun swells.

I noticed this was definitely the case for me that day. If you figure in all those factors, as well as my experience that day, it was easy to get overtaken by a wave or very large wave. I know a few other local wave pro's that said it was "dangerous, not safe outside, etc.".

Again this is terrible news & my sympathy for his family.

Tony Soprano
Resident
Resident
Posts:741
Joined:Sat May 19, 2007 7:29 pm
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Tony Soprano » Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:31 am

The autopsy results are in. Allen died of a heart attack and I am told that he died very quickly. It is clear that the ocean was not the primary contributor to his death.

User avatar
Sonny
Resident
Resident
Posts:892
Joined:Tue Apr 26, 2005 8:18 am
Location:Foster City
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Sonny » Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:58 pm

Tony Soprano wrote:The autopsy results are in. Allen died of a heart attack and I am told that he died very quickly. It is clear that the ocean was not the primary contributor to his death.
I don't know if he could have been saved if he was on the beach but at least he was doing what he loved.
Sonny
3rd AVE Kite Repair
sonny@kite3rd.com
http://www.kite3rd.com

User avatar
Loscocco
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts:2666
Joined:Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:08 pm
Location:San Francisco California
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by Loscocco » Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:14 pm

Celebration of the life of Allen Chung this Satuday Feb 20th at 11am at Crissy field. His favorite place to kite. Casual dress and a paddle out may happen so bring SUPs/surfboards. Ashes to be scattered under the Golden Gate by kite if the wind permits.
Attachments
Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 7.01.40 PM.png
Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 7.01.40 PM.png (1.57MiB)Viewed 10733 times
My Photography ==> www.Loscocco.com
Kites:Ocean Rodeo: Flites and Razors
Boards:Ocean Rodeo: Duke and Spotz Hydrofoil
Eyewear:Kurtis Surf Goggles www.KurtisUSA.com

extremetray
Joey
Joey
Posts:9
Joined:Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:01 am
Location:San Francisco
Contact:

Re: Sad news about Allen Chung

Post by extremetray » Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:33 pm

Thanks for posting this info. I'd been looking for more details for a few days. Huge condolences for his close friends and family. All I'll say is that I'm not a Crissy regular, but many times I've been there over the years he's come up and said hello and pretty much remembered me and was the friendliest guy on the beach, which I always appreciated. Class act. Super sad. RIP Allen.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 61 guests