Kailua fatal crash 29/04/2019
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Kailua fatal crash 29/04/2019
3 dead after fiery helicopter crash on busy Kailua road
Looks like an R44, photos here.
April 29, 2019 at 9:27 AM HST - Updated April 29 at 1:47 PM
KAILUA (HawaiiNewsNow) - Three people were killed Monday when a tour helicopter spun out of control and crashed nose-first on a busy Kailua roadway, bursting into flames.
The crash on Oneawa Street about 9 a.m. produced a shocking scene for drivers and nearby residents, who rushed to the site in the slim hope that someone on board had survived.
Bystanders aimed their garden hoses at the fire to try to put out the blaze, and pulled at least one of the victims from the burning craft.
“Neighbors were doing a heroic effort trying to put out the fire and also trying to get the patients away from the burning aircraft,” said Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the city Emergency Services Department. She confirmed all three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Witness Tehani Alo said she saw the helicopter spinning out of control before it came crashing down.
“It sounded like hell landing,” she said.
Another resident described the crash this way: “Horrible.”
According to the FAA, the chopper was a four-seat Robinson R44. It was owned by a helicopter tour company ― Novictor Helicopters, officials confirmed.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the chopper came down. Authorities said it crashed during heavy rains under “unknown circumstances."
Witness Adrian Kozuki, who lives nearby, said he was in his backyard when the crash happened.
“I heard the helicopter in the air and all of a sudden I heard a pop, like a blast kind of thing,” he said. Then, within 15 seconds, he said he could see smoke coming out.
The crash sent debris onto nearby homes, properties and cars. At least one vehicle was significantly damaged when a fuel tank landed on its hood.
Mike Cunningham was driving when he saw the chopper crash about 20 feet in front of him.
He said the helicopter came down “very hard, nose first.”
“I saw the wires shaking, and right after that the wires broke and a helicopter came crashing through the trees,” Cunningham said, adding that as soon as it hit the ground, it was already on fire.
“I don’t see how anybody could’ve walked away from it,” Cunningham said. “It was in flames immediately. And you couldn’t get close to it.”
Lisa Dow lives about two blocks from where the chopper came down, and said she heard the helicopter in the air and then the sound of the crash.
[Read more: In wake of deadly crash, lawmaker calls on authorities to ground tour helicopters]
She said the chopper “pretty much disintegrated” on impact.
“It’s horrible,” she said. “The blessing is that nobody on the ground got hit.”
Added witness Vanessa Solomon: “The saddest part was knowing that there were people falling out of the sky. It was hard to see that."
The noise of the crash shook Ikona Kaapana’s house.
“When it was falling, it wasn’t on fire,” he said. “It was all black and there was no propellers and it was on it’s side when it was falling. We heard it land and it just went up in smoke."
Honolulu police have shut down all lanes of Oneawa Street near Kalolina Street as authorities investigate.
Novictor was involved in a separate helicopter crash in October.
In that incident, a Robinson R-44 crashed just off the Kaneohe sand bar after the pilot reportedly had a medical emergency and passed out. A couple visiting from Chicago was seriously injured in the crash.
The chopper crash is also the second this month.
Earlier in April, a helicopter went down near Sacred Falls after an apparent engine failure.
The Paradise Helicopters aircraft was contracted by the state Land Department, and crashed into trees before hitting the ground.
In that incident, all four people on board the helicopter refused transport to the hospital.
KAILUA (HawaiiNewsNow) - Three people were killed Monday when a tour helicopter spun out of control and crashed nose-first on a busy Kailua roadway, bursting into flames.
The crash on Oneawa Street about 9 a.m. produced a shocking scene for drivers and nearby residents, who rushed to the site in the slim hope that someone on board had survived.
Bystanders aimed their garden hoses at the fire to try to put out the blaze, and pulled at least one of the victims from the burning craft.
“Neighbors were doing a heroic effort trying to put out the fire and also trying to get the patients away from the burning aircraft,” said Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the city Emergency Services Department. She confirmed all three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Witness Tehani Alo said she saw the helicopter spinning out of control before it came crashing down.
“It sounded like hell landing,” she said.
Another resident described the crash this way: “Horrible.”
According to the FAA, the chopper was a four-seat Robinson R44. It was owned by a helicopter tour company ― Novictor Helicopters, officials confirmed.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the chopper came down. Authorities said it crashed during heavy rains under “unknown circumstances."
Witness Adrian Kozuki, who lives nearby, said he was in his backyard when the crash happened.
“I heard the helicopter in the air and all of a sudden I heard a pop, like a blast kind of thing,” he said. Then, within 15 seconds, he said he could see smoke coming out.
The crash sent debris onto nearby homes, properties and cars. At least one vehicle was significantly damaged when a fuel tank landed on its hood.
Mike Cunningham was driving when he saw the chopper crash about 20 feet in front of him.
He said the helicopter came down “very hard, nose first.”
“I saw the wires shaking, and right after that the wires broke and a helicopter came crashing through the trees,” Cunningham said, adding that as soon as it hit the ground, it was already on fire.
“I don’t see how anybody could’ve walked away from it,” Cunningham said. “It was in flames immediately. And you couldn’t get close to it.”
Lisa Dow lives about two blocks from where the chopper came down, and said she heard the helicopter in the air and then the sound of the crash.
[Read more: In wake of deadly crash, lawmaker calls on authorities to ground tour helicopters]
She said the chopper “pretty much disintegrated” on impact.
“It’s horrible,” she said. “The blessing is that nobody on the ground got hit.”
Added witness Vanessa Solomon: “The saddest part was knowing that there were people falling out of the sky. It was hard to see that."
The noise of the crash shook Ikona Kaapana’s house.
“When it was falling, it wasn’t on fire,” he said. “It was all black and there was no propellers and it was on it’s side when it was falling. We heard it land and it just went up in smoke."
Honolulu police have shut down all lanes of Oneawa Street near Kalolina Street as authorities investigate.
Novictor was involved in a separate helicopter crash in October.
In that incident, a Robinson R-44 crashed just off the Kaneohe sand bar after the pilot reportedly had a medical emergency and passed out. A couple visiting from Chicago was seriously injured in the crash.
The chopper crash is also the second this month.
Earlier in April, a helicopter went down near Sacred Falls after an apparent engine failure.
The Paradise Helicopters aircraft was contracted by the state Land Department, and crashed into trees before hitting the ground.
In that incident, all four people on board the helicopter refused transport to the hospital.
As usual, conflicting reports:
"it was already on fire before it landed"
"There was no fire before it landed"
And some goose demands all helicopter tours be grounded, with no reference to the numbers of people killed in car crashes every day.
"it was already on fire before it landed"
"There was no fire before it landed"
And some goose demands all helicopter tours be grounded, with no reference to the numbers of people killed in car crashes every day.
No doubt upon the outcome.....scratch one helicopter and three lives.
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R44 Sightseeing Crash near HNL
Official: 3 dead in helicopter crash in Honolulu suburb
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER30 minutes ago
1 of 8
Investigators stand around the wreckage of a helicopter, Monday, April 29, 2019, in Kailua, Hawaii. Fire and helicopter parts rained from the sky Monday in a suburban Honolulu community in a crash that killed three people aboard, officials and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
HONOLULU (AP) — Fire and helicopter parts rained from the sky Monday in a suburban Honolulu community as a tour helicopter crashed and killed all three people aboard, officials and witnesses said.Investigators stand around the wreckage of a helicopter, Monday, April 29, 2019, in Kailua, Hawaii. Fire and helicopter parts rained from the sky Monday in a suburban Honolulu community in a crash that killed three people aboard, officials and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
“All you could see was fire,” witness Melissa Solomon said, explaining that she was driving on the street when she looked up to see flames and a helicopter plummeting in front of her.
She said she had turn onto another street because she was afraid more pieces were going to fall from the sky onto her and her 16-year-old daughter sitting in the front passenger seat.
“We could have been smashed by it,” she said.
Paramedics responding to an unrelated call from a patient with leg pain about 30 yards (27 meters) away heard “a horrific bang,” said Shayne Enright, a spokeswoman for Honolulu Emergency Medical Services. When they turned around, they saw a helicopter on fire.
The crash occurred in Kailua, a town of 50,000 people about a 30-minute drive from downtown Honolulu.
The crash site was on a two-lane road amid one and two-story homes.
Darel Robinson was doing construction work at a house about a half-mile from the crash site when he heard what sounded like helicopter blades thumping and then a loud boom.
“It was going nose down and parts were starting to fly off,” he said.
Megan Lacy of Alabama was visiting friends when they heard the crash. They went outside, expecting to find two cars after they had hit each other.
“We were really confused,” she said. “And then we heard screaming and the word ‘fire,’ and I saw smoke,” she said. Debris damaged her rental car about 100 yards (90 meters) from the crash.
A resident said he heard the morning crash then saw a ball of fire in a road when he ran from his house.
Leleo Knappenberger told Hawaii News Now that his mother heard the helicopter flying over the house, making a strange noise.
He said he later saw what appeared to be the tail end of the helicopter.
“It’s all smashed to pieces,” he said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the agency believes three people were on board the four-seat, Robinson R44 aircraft.
He said the circumstances of the crash were unknown.
No further details were available on those killed.
The helicopter, which was built in 2000, is registered to United Helicopter Leasing LLC of Honolulu, according to FAA records. State business records show Nicole Vandelaar as the manager.
A woman who answered the phone at the business and identified herself as Nicole declined to immediately comment, saying she was too busy to talk.
A website for the Honolulu tour helicopter company Novictor Helicopters identified Nicole Vandelaar as founder and CEO. The website said she is an expert pilot commercially licensed to fly helicopters and airplanes.
A Novictor helicopter crashed on a sandbar in Kaneohe in October after the pilot lost consciousness twice. That crash resulted in injuries to the pilot and two passengers. It was also a Robinson R44 aircraft.
State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who represents Kailua, said she wants the FAA to prohibit tour flights over Hawaii’s residential areas and national parks. The Republican lawmaker wants Hawaii’s congressional delegation to ask the FAA to implement such restrictions.
Thielen also called for tour helicopter flights to be grounded until an investigation into the crash is completed.
Kailua is home to a Marine Corps base. In recent years it’s become a popular destination for tourists to go to the beach, hike and shop.
Former President Barack Obama stayed at a rented beachfront vacation home in the town during the winter holidays when he was in the White House.
The helicopters are operated by Novictor Helocopters which is owned by helo pilot Nicole Vandelaar Battjes.
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From the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:
A 28-year-old man who moved to Honolulu two weeks ago from New Mexico was the pilot who died along with two passengers when a tour helicopter crashed in a Kailua neighborhood, his father said today.
Joseph Berridge, who moved from Albuquerque, was the pilot of a four-seat Robinson R44 aircraft that crashed Monday morning on Oneawa Street, his father, Bobby Berridge, told The Associated Press from Garfield, New Mexico, where his son grew up on a 250-acre farm.
“It was always my son’s dream to go to Hawaii and fly tours for a couple of years,” Bobby Berridge said. His son’s girlfriend and dog were preparing to join him.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office today released the identity of one of the two women onboard the helicopter with Berridge. She has been identified as Ryan McAuliffe, 28, of Chicago. Australian news reports cited family members in saying that the third victim was Jan Burgess, a grandmother and great-grandmother who was on vacation with other family members.
Bobby Berridge says his son’s employer, Novictor Helicopters, contacted his son’s girlfriend about the crash.
CEO and chief pilot Nicole Vandelaar declined to confirm the pilot’s name.
“This accident is heartbreaking for everyone, especially the families and friends of the passengers and pilot, who was part of our Novictor family,” Vandelaar said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.”
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the crash site today.
“I don’t know what happened with the crash, but he was a great helicopter pilot and he knew what he was doing,” Bobby Berridge said. “I’m not going to point fingers at this time.”
His son loved helicopters and also had an instructors’ license. “I talked to him about three or four days ago. He was on the beach enjoying life,” Bobby Berridge said. “He said, ‘Who has it better than I do?’”
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office today found that the cause of death for all three individuals was “multiple blunt force injuries due to helicopter crash.” Toxicology testing and testing required by the Federal Aviation Administration are also being performed. However, those results are not expected for several weeks or months.
Pilot in Kailua crash had just moved to Hawaii to fly tour helicopters, his father says
By Star-Advertiser Staff and Associated Press
April 30, 2019
Updated 9:41 p.m.
April 30, 2019
Updated 9:41 p.m.
Jospeh Berridge, who moved from Albuquerque, was the pilot of a four-seat Robinson R44 aircraft that crashed Monday morning on Oneawa Street. Pictured is Berridge with a Robinson R44 helicopter in Albuquerque, N.M.
A 28-year-old man who moved to Honolulu two weeks ago from New Mexico was the pilot who died along with two passengers when a tour helicopter crashed in a Kailua neighborhood, his father said today.
Joseph Berridge, who moved from Albuquerque, was the pilot of a four-seat Robinson R44 aircraft that crashed Monday morning on Oneawa Street, his father, Bobby Berridge, told The Associated Press from Garfield, New Mexico, where his son grew up on a 250-acre farm.
“It was always my son’s dream to go to Hawaii and fly tours for a couple of years,” Bobby Berridge said. His son’s girlfriend and dog were preparing to join him.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office today released the identity of one of the two women onboard the helicopter with Berridge. She has been identified as Ryan McAuliffe, 28, of Chicago. Australian news reports cited family members in saying that the third victim was Jan Burgess, a grandmother and great-grandmother who was on vacation with other family members.
Bobby Berridge says his son’s employer, Novictor Helicopters, contacted his son’s girlfriend about the crash.
CEO and chief pilot Nicole Vandelaar declined to confirm the pilot’s name.
“This accident is heartbreaking for everyone, especially the families and friends of the passengers and pilot, who was part of our Novictor family,” Vandelaar said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.”
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the crash site today.
“I don’t know what happened with the crash, but he was a great helicopter pilot and he knew what he was doing,” Bobby Berridge said. “I’m not going to point fingers at this time.”
His son loved helicopters and also had an instructors’ license. “I talked to him about three or four days ago. He was on the beach enjoying life,” Bobby Berridge said. “He said, ‘Who has it better than I do?’”
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office today found that the cause of death for all three individuals was “multiple blunt force injuries due to helicopter crash.” Toxicology testing and testing required by the Federal Aviation Administration are also being performed. However, those results are not expected for several weeks or months.
Hmm, someone used to Alberquerque sunshine suddenly exposed to Hawaiian downpours a possible factor?
Originally Posted by [email protected]
Hmm, someone used to Alberquerque sunshine suddenly exposed to Hawaiian downpours a possible factor?
Someone not familiar with how sudden, variable and intense coastal weather in tropical environments can be may be in for a hard lesson.
You would hope that a youngster, new to the area wouldn't be left to their own devices.
It's unlikely someone that young and new would have the strength to say no if they weren't comfortable.
Why is it so often robbies that end up like this?
Cheap tours can have a heavy cost.
How much flying time do you have in New Mexico in a Robbie?
It rains in the desert too
I imagine that Hawaii is much like the Caribbean where it can go from bright sunshine to stair rods in the blink of an eye if you don't avoid the showers.
Originally Posted by [email protected]
Hmm, someone used to Alberquerque sunshine suddenly exposed to Hawaiian downpours a possible factor?
You've got to be joking??
This industry amazes me every day.
RIP all involved.
Crab,
New Mexico does have a bit of Snow that can make the flying quite interesting at times....not to mention the terrain and elevation.
You might be confusing Arizona with New Mexico
I would be more concerned about the presence of Turbulence if there was some convective activity in that potential sudden downpour of rain ya'll seem to have yer concerns about.
New Mexico does have a bit of Snow that can make the flying quite interesting at times....not to mention the terrain and elevation.
You might be confusing Arizona with New Mexico
I would be more concerned about the presence of Turbulence if there was some convective activity in that potential sudden downpour of rain ya'll seem to have yer concerns about.
Letter to the FAA on Helicopter concerns
Rep. Case Sends Letter to FAA on Helicopter Concerns | Big Island Now=left
Congressman Ed Case released the following letter on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, addressed to Raquel Girvin, the Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region of the Federal Aviation Administration.
In his letter to Regional Administrator Girvin, Case also attached the letter he received yesterday from Hawai‘i State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, as well as a previous letter he sent to the Regional Administrator on the issue of Helicopter-Small Aircraft Commercial Air Tour Operations in Hawai‘i.
Rep. Case Sends Letter to FAA on Helicopter Concerns
By Big Island Now
April 30, 2019, 4:32 PM HST (Updated April 30, 2019, 4:34 PM)Congressman Ed Case released the following letter on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, addressed to Raquel Girvin, the Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region of the Federal Aviation Administration.
In his letter to Regional Administrator Girvin, Case also attached the letter he received yesterday from Hawai‘i State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, as well as a previous letter he sent to the Regional Administrator on the issue of Helicopter-Small Aircraft Commercial Air Tour Operations in Hawai‘i.
You've got to be joking??
SAS - unless there are 2 Alberquerques I think I extracted the correct weather data for NM
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The flightradar image has the one aircraft quite far out over the bay, from their facebook page the 44's don't look like they are float-equipped. Is that accepted practice?
As much as it will upset the Robinsons, repeated overflight of built-up areas in piston helicopters for passenger transport does not sound like the best way to avoid problems or noise complaints long-term.
As much as it will upset the Robinsons, repeated overflight of built-up areas in piston helicopters for passenger transport does not sound like the best way to avoid problems or noise complaints long-term.