Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate Wednesday’s tour helicopter crash on the island of Hawaii.
A Bell 407 helicopter manned by six people – five passengers and a pilot – crashed into a remote lava field between the Ranchos Subdivision and South Point Road around 5:29 p.m., the Hawaii County Fire Department said.
NTSB spokeswoman Jennifer Grabis said the tour departed Kona International Airport and crashed about half an hour later.
The helicopter was operated by K&S Helicopters, doing business as Paradise Helicopters.
The crash site was over a mile from the nearest road, leading rescue teams to rely on their helicopters, one from East Hawaii and the other from West Hawaii, to extract the pilot and his occupants from the site.
All six occupants were injured. One of the passengers, a 19-year-old woman, suffered the most serious injuries. Hawaii County Fire Deputy Chief Darwin Okinaka said a rescue helicopter took her to Kona Community Hospital.
A 54-year-old man who was also seriously injured and other occupants were taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment, the fire department said.
The passengers and the pilot have not yet been identified.
Photos of the wreckage showed the mangled plane with broken pieces strewn across the lava field.
Okinaka said, “It’s definitely a blessing that they were able to survive the accident.”
In a statement, Calvin Dorn of K&S Helicopters said: “K&S Helicopters is cooperating with all authorities involved and is also working to help those affected.”
“Caring for our passengers, crew members and their families is our top priority,” he said.
The company declined to provide details of the accident.
Grabis said an NTSB investigator has yet to attend the scene. “An investigator will travel to Hawaii to examine the wreckage once it is recovered.”
In recent years, two fatal tour helicopter accidents have occurred, one on Oahu and the other on Kauai.
On April 29, 2019, a pilot and his two passengers aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter died in an accident on Oneawa Street, a thoroughfare in a residential area of Kailua.
The aircraft was operated by Novictor Helicopters, now called Rainbow Helicopters.
An NTSB investigation concluded that the pilot, Joseph Berridge, 28, flew into adverse weather conditions at a higher than recommended airspeed, which resulted in excessive main rotor flapping and an in-flight breakup when the main rotor struck the cabin area. .
Berridge moved to Hawaii from New Mexico after the company hired him 2½ weeks before the accident. He had completed company training 10 days before the April 29 flight.
Eight months after the Kailua helicopter crash, an Airbus AS 350 B2 helicopter operated by Safari Aviation crashed Dec. 26 after flying in stormy weather near Kauai’s Na Pali coast. The pilot and six passengers, including three children, died in the accident.
The NTSB said the Kauai crash was preventable. The independent federal agency criticized the FAA for its minimal safety oversight of flight operations in Hawaii and its failure to implement the board’s safety recommendations.
Investigators said the chief pilot, Paul Matero, 69, flew into a mountainous area near the Na Pali coast that was covered in low cloud and fog before losing control or crashing. fly to the field.
Investigators noted that the pilot’s decision to continue flying in deteriorating visibility conditions was likely influenced by a lack of up-to-date weather information, error in judgement, or overconfidence in his flying abilities.
The NTSB said the FAA’s failure to implement the board’s 2007 recommendation that the FAA develop and require specialized weather training for air tour operators in Hawaii could have provided Matero with the tools to avoid dangerous weather conditions.
During Wednesday’s tour helicopter crash, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said he was awaiting updates on the condition of the injured and other information on what may have could have caused the accident.
The weather in the area when firefighters responded to the crash was winds around 16 mph, gusts around 23 mph and scattered or broken clouds, said National Weather meteorologist Thomas Vaughan. Service. “Big Island Afternoon Standard Time.”
According to an NTSB database, Paradise Helicopters has been involved in at least two previous accidents while sightseeing.
Returning from a sightseeing tour in 2005, a helicopter developed a “sudden vibration in the tail rotor pedals”, followed by a loud cracking or popping noise, then a loud popping noise, said the NTSB. It struck trees and low shrubs when the pilot landed in a clearing in a forest near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island. The pilot and four passengers were not injured.
And as a Paradise helicopter pilot prepared to take off in 2009 for a four-passenger Oahu sightseeing tour, the helicopter’s left landing gear collapsed, according to NTSB records. The helicopter rolled to the left and was damaged, but no one on board was injured.
———
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
