Engine failure blamed in Kea'au helicopter crash

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

A "catastrophic engine failure" that sent a turbine wheel flying out of a Big Island tour helicopter Friday afternoon was responsible for its crash landing in a Kea'au field, the Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday.

Tweet Coleman, FAA Pacific representative, credited the pilot with successfully landing the chopper without power and assisting her four passengers from the burning craft before it was consumed by the blaze.

Two of the four passengers received minor burns, Coleman said.

The Tropical Helicopters Bell 206 chopper took off at 12:18 p.m. from the Hilo airport for a tour of the Kalapana area and to view the lava flows.

Five minutes into the flight, Coleman said, a loud bang occurred, followed by fire in the aircraft. The pilot made an auto-rotation landing, in which the spinning of the main rotors slows the descent, into a field of grass about seven feet deep, Coleman said.

When firefighters the Kea'au station arrived at the crash scene, near the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut farm, they found the helicopter in flames. Damage to the helicopter was estimated at $250,000.

The turbine wheel was found "pretty beat up" some distance from the helicopter, Coleman said. "She (the pilot) did a pretty good job of landing it, somewhat of a hard landing, but not hard enough to split the landing gear," she said.

Two FAA aviation safety inspectors went to Hilo Saturday to investigate. Based on their initial findings, and at the request of the National Transportation Safety Board, the engine will be torn down by its manufacturer, Rolls Royce, with Bell Helicopter and FAA representatives on site in Hilo to observe that work.

Officials hope the tear-down will be completed by week's end, but the schedule depends on arrival of the manufacturers' representatives from the Mainland.

The FAA has already interviewed the passengers, pilot and company officials, and reviewed logs for personnel and the chopper.

"It was clearly a mechanical problem, but we still do not know why the engine failed," Coleman said.

"It's a credit to the pilot to be able, during take-off procedures, to have a sound mind to do a successful auto rotation and to be able to help your passengers out of a burning aircraft," she said.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.