HONOLULU?? At least one of the two couples killed in a tourist helicopter crash on Hawaii's Molokai island Thursday were newlyweds, according to reports Friday.
The aircraft was flying to see West Maui and Molokai when it went down near an elementary school, authorities said. The pilot and all four passengers were killed in the crash.
Rod Antone, a Maui official, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the two couples were from Pennsylvania and Ontario, Canada.
Maui county officials said at least two of the passengers were newlyweds, the paper reported.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's Pacific Division, told the Star-Advertiser that after the crash the helicopter was "engulfed in flames."
Richard Stevens, principal of Kilohana Elementary School, said at the time of the crash "a lot of us heard what we thought was thunder," according to the paper. Ualapue resident Wren Wescoatt added there were heavy rain squalls at the time, saying he had heard a loud "whoop" sound then saw flames from the crash site.
'Extremely grieved'
The Maui News said officials identified the pilot as Nathan Cline, 30, of Kihei.
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters owner David Chevalier said the passengers were taking a 45-minute tour that departed from Kahului, on Maui. He declined to release the pilot's name.
"We're extremely grieved for our pilot as well as the passengers," Chevalier said. "Something like this can't be more devastating to us."
The EC-130 chopper that crashed was less than a year old and was being leased from Nevada Helicopter Leasing LLC, Chevalier said.
Maui mayor Alan Arakawa knew the pilot on a personally, according to a report on news website Hawaii News Now.
-
Don't miss these Travel stories
-
Tastes and sounds of Montreal lure US tourists
These days, Montreal is selling itself to U.S. tourists as more than just poutine and a port.
- Burglar targets traveling Facebook friends
- Power your gadgets with your own bag
- 8 most complicated countries to visit
- Be prepared for worst-case travel scenarios
-
Tastes and sounds of Montreal lure US tourists
"He's taken us around when we had the tsunami problems," the mayor said.
"We went around and we actually got to see all of the details, taking us real close. (He was) very experienced. We're just really sad that this has happened," he added.
"We truly want to express our sorrow to all of those whose families are involved," Arakawa told the website. Blue Hawaiian, this is only the second accident they've had in the history of the company, so generally a very, very safe company."
Deadly crashes
Molokai is a mostly rural island of about 7,000 people between Maui and Oahu, where world leaders have gathered this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu.
Helicopter tour companies advertise trips to Molokai to see the island's sea cliffs and Hawaii's tallest waterfall. The remote Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai is where Hawaii exiled leprosy patients between 1866 and 1969.
A Blue Hawaiian helicopter was involved in a July 2000 crash that killed seven people on Maui. A National Transportation Safety Board report said that the pilot was responsible, failing to maintain enough altitude over the terrain amid low-lying clouds.
Blue Hawaiian conducts 160,000 tours each year on all of the Hawaiian islands, Chevalier said.
Hawaii has seen several other helicopter crashes in the last decade.
In March 2007, four people died when a Heli-USA Airways helicopter crashed at Princeville Airport on Kauai.
Three passengers drowned in 2005 after a helicopter crashed into the ocean off the coast of Kauai. In 2004, five people were killed when a helicopter crashed into a mountain on Kauai.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45248790/ns/travel-news/
harp harp world series game 5 moammar gadhafi harry connick jr rightnow maurice jones drew
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন