Posted on: Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Helicopter pilot hailed as hero after crash landing

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua‘i Bureau

Pilot Luco Rostagno, left, is being called a hero after he landed his chopper after the engine failed. Fire Capt. Colin Wilson, right, helped put out a fire after the crash. Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A rescue helicopter's engine failed over some of the island's most rugged terrain Sunday, but pilot Luco Rostagno was able to bring the Hughes 500D to a soft landing on a heavily vegetated slope before it tipped over and set the brush afire.

Rostagno and three Kaua'i Fire Department rescue specialists escaped without injury and put out the fire before they climbed to safety, away from the chopper.

"There was a heavy smell of fuel in the air," said Fire Capt. Colin Wilson. But the fuel never ignited.

Rostagno and Wilson, along with fire rescue specialist Mason Chock and firefighter Roy Constantino, had taken off about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, headed for remote Hanakoa Valley on the island's Na Pali coastline, where a camper had suffered a serious ankle injury and was to be carried out.

As the helicopter approached Hanalei Valley from the south about 500 feet above the ground, the engine's warning horn and light signaled. Rostagno said he reduced power and then lost engine power entirely. Until then, Wilson said, "everything seemed normal. We've done it numerous times in the past."

The terrain at 1,600 feet above sea level was densely vegetated, with gullies and ridges, and far from any road. The area was about two miles from Mount Wai'ale'ale and a quarter-mile from the south wall of Hanalei Valley. With no flat places, Rostagno prepared to set it down where he could.

The chopper dropped in autorotation mode, meaning there was no power to the rotors, and the rushing air was making the rotors turn. Just before reaching the ground, Rostagno flared the helicopter to soften the landing.

"These are a few techniques that we practice on a regular basis. You build up as much rotor speed as you can to cushion the landing," Rostagno said.

Wilson said the chopper hit fairly softly, chopping through a few small trees with its rotors, and then tipped to one side. A tree stump snagged a skid, preventing it from sliding or rolling over.

The helicopter's hot exhaust system apparently made contact with brush and started a fire. The crew climbed out of the helicopter when the rotors stopped turning and used an on-board fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

Then they climbed to a clearing between trees a short distance away and began calling rescue officials and families, using radios and cell phones. They were picked up about two hours later by a Coast Guard rescue helicopter.

Fire Chief David Sproat said Battalion Chief Bob Kaden made the decision, in the fading light, to send the Coast Guard team after the firefighters first, and then to go to the injured hiker, if possible.

Ultimately, the Coast Guard decided against going for the hiker that night, because of darkness.

Sproat said he concurred with the decision, because the firefighters were without rain or camping gear, and the hiker reportedly had camping gear. Also her injury was not life-threatening, and she had a nurse present for assistance. She was pulled out of Hanakoa Valley with a severely swollen and discolored ankle about 7 a.m. yesterday by another Air-1 helicopter. Her condition was not known.

Air-1, also known as Inter Island Helicopters, conducts most of the county's rescue operations. Rostagno said the firm expects to pull the wrecked helicopter out of the area using one of its other choppers.