Helicopter Crash in Hawaii

[ATPMBA]

I heard there was a helicopter crash in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai.
Does anyone have any details?

[Heliport]

News report from AP LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- Four people died and one survived when a tour helicopter crashed into a volcanic mountain on Kauai Wednesday, officials said.

The wreckage of the Bell 206B helicopter was spotted around noon at about 4,300 feet elevation, Lt. Miles Tanabe, an acting assistant chief with the Kauai Police Department, said.

Rescue personnel were at the scene Wednesday afternoon attempting to have the survivor airlifted from the steep crash site, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the cause of the crash could not be immediately determined, and identities of the victims were not immediately released.

There was no official word on the survivor's condition, but the FAA said the helicopter was destroyed.

The Bell 206B aircraft owned by Jack Harter Helicopters had been three hours overdue to return from an hourlong tour that left Lihue at 8:03 a.m., said Donn Walker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles.

The crash occurred in a crater on the eastern face of Mount Waialeale, known as the wettest spot on earth, said Fire Battalion Chief Mitchell Ikeda. It happened at about 9 a.m., as the helicopter would have been completing its journey, said Walker.

The Bell 206B was built in 1975, Walker said. Jack Harter Helicopters' ad in the Yellow Pages notes that it has a "perfect safety record."

Officials from the FAA were en route to from the agency's flight standards office in Honolulu, and were scheduled to arrive on Kauai on Wednesday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board was also deploying officials for an investigation, officials said.

The FAA said it would set up an emergency wreckage area at the airport commuter air terminal to bring the wreckage in.

"It was only supposed to be an hour sightseeing tour and it never returned," Walker said.

Donn said the helicopter's pilot had not filed a flight plan with the FAA, however he was not required to. He said the pilot had been given a weather briefing from the FAA and no special circumstances were noted.

The pilot was required to file a flight plan with Jack Harter Helicopters, but the company did not immediately say whether such paperwork was received.

It was the second fatal helicopter crash in Hawaii in six weeks. On June 15, a sightseeing helicopter crashed on Hawaii's Big Island near the Kilauea Volcano, killing four people.

[MaxNg]

Sad news yet again

Condolences to all effected

Does anybody have any info on the number of operators/aircraft that operate in the Islands or any stats on the hours flown per A/c or are there any pilots out there who can give us a rundown on the hazards perticular to this area.

[M/V]

Max Ng
I had the pleasure of flying on Maui a few years ago, most of the time the weather was ok but climbing over Mt Haliakela (don't know if the spelling is correct but it's a dormant volcano with an elavation of 10,000)
one could experience some pretty stiff winds/downdrafts. Most demanding part about the job was making sure the pax whent away happy and got to see all the waterfalls, canyons etc. as the wx often dictated our route. Also, if you received complaints due to flying too close to someones home you wouldn't last that long in the job. The industry is big, don't recall the actaul hours flown but on Maui there were five operators at the time, all in the air every daylight hour/every day. The machine I flew hardly ever shutdown, we hot re-fuelled and did a `hot' change of drivers at lunchtime I must admit if I ever whent back there as a tourist, i would gladly pay to do a 45 flight around the island, the sceanery is stunning, real `Jurrasic Park' stiff

[AlanM]

M/V

I too flew on Maui a few months back. As you say Mount Haleakala is 10000ft+.

Was an odd trip - we took off in CAVOK 30 degree heat, and got to the top among wispy stratus and on the other side of the isalnd we were caught in a few heavy showers (the rain forest side out by Hana). Was certainly sporty in a few of the hovers over waterfalls.

All in all was a great trip (esp shutting down on a beach and having a glass of Champage on the beach:)!) Was wondering though, were the pax like us and all honeymooners?

Bad news either way of course.

[RW-1]

From a friend of mine on PHPA giving us the news of this, a small piece of pilot info.

"This pilot was a damn good friend of mine and a damn good pilot too, with like 20,000 Hrs. He's been flying on the island since 92 after retiering from the U.S. Navy as a helo pilot. He's been working for the company since he retired. He will be missed by all he worked with."

Won't really know what happened (and don't care to speculate).

[TheStormyPetrel]

Families file lawsuit over helicopter crash

By TOM FINNEGAN - TGI Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, Apr 02, 2004 - 09:27:05 pm HST

The families of two of the victims of last summer’s Mt. Wai‘ale‘ale helicopter crash filed a wrongful-death lawsuit recently in Lihu‘e Circuit Court.

Named in the lawsuit filed by the families of Edward J. and Teresa M. Wadiak are Jack Harter Helicopters and Rolls Royce, a helicopter engine manufacturer.

Michael Danko, an aviation-law expert and partner with the San Francisco firm of O’Reilly, Collins and Danko, filed the suit for the family on March 10.

Harter officials haven’t been served papers in the matter, so had no comment.

"At this point, we are trying to get answers to questions," said Danko. "In my experience, family members are looking for answers from (companies involved) and don’t get any."

He added that many people involved, such as those from Jack Harter Helicopters and Rolls Royce, the manufacturer of the engines of the Bell 206B Jet Ranger that went down July 22 last year, are not required to speak with families about causes of crashes.

"Sometimes we have to file a lawsuit and (depose) them" under oath to get some answers, said Danko. He would not elaborate about which specific questions he seeks to have answered.

The filing of the lawsuit is the first step, he said, and then comes serving complaints, a court appearance, and then depositions.

As for the reason behind the lawsuit, Danko said he hopes "information on the cause of the crash will come out."

He expects a court appearance will be scheduled within the next 60 days.

Edward J. Wadiak, 55, and Teresa M. Wadiak, 53, of Manassas, Va., were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary when they boarded the Jack Harter Helicopters craft for an hour-long tour last July 22.

The helicopter they were in crashed onto the eastern slope of Mt. Wai‘ale‘ale, killing them, the pilot, Mark Lundgren, 44, of Puhi; and Jeffrey Peterson, 33, of Denver, Colo. His wife, Monica Peterson, also 33, survived the crash, but died as Kaua‘i Fire Department rescue specialists watched helplessly several hours after the crash.

So far, no one else has filed civil charges in Circuit Court, but Danko expects other lawsuits may be forthcoming.

Danko’s San Francisco law firm has covered a great many aviation cases, many in Hawai‘i, including the Big Island Air crash in 1999, and a Mokulele Flight Service crash in 2001.

It has also worked on cases surrounding some catastrophic, major-airline crashes, such as the TWA Flight 800 explosion over Long Island, New York in 1996, and the Air France-Concorde crash in 2000. from kauaiworld (http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2004/04/02/news/news04.txt)