Wreckage of light plane found on Moloka'i ridge
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Maui firefighters today found the wreckage of a plane on a rugged ridge in Moloka‘i’s Pelekunu Valley that is believed to be the Cessna 172 missing since Saturday. They saw no sign that the plane’s 17-year-old pilot, Chezray Hayes, survived the crash.
Hayes, an O‘ahu boy with 30 hours of flight experience, was flying solo in a single-engine Cessna 172 from Honolulu to Maui on Saturday. He checked in with Moloka‘i airport officials at 12:15 p.m. and was not heard from again.
The Maui fire department helicopter found the wreckage at 7:15 a.m. on Manuahi Ridge. A U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a U.S. Navy HSL 37 helicopter were part of the search today that began at first light.
A positive identification of the Cessna had not been made by the Maui fire department, said Assistant Fire Chief Greg Chong Kee.
“We probably won’t have anything definitive until we rappel down to the site,” Kee said.
Officials hoped to do that today.
Coast Guard Lt. Kevin Kerney, the pilot in command of the Dolphin helicopter, said he had no doubt the wreckage was that of the missing plane.
Coast Guard photo
“To us, it was obvious that this was what we were looking for,” he said. “We could not see any survivors or casualties in the debris.”
The Maui fire department helicopter found the wreckage of a plane at 7:15 a.m. today on Manuahi Ridge on Moloka'i.
The weather had greatly improved from the past two days, with the cloud ceiling several thousand feet above Moloka‘i’s rugged eastern ridges and visibility of at least seven miles, Kerney said. When he had flown search patterns near Pelekunu on Saturday, Kerney said he could not see this area.
The plane crashed at an elevation of about 1,400 to 1,500 feet and had missed clearing a north-to-south ridgeline in the valley by about 50 to 75 feet, Kerney said.
“There are not a lot of trees,” Kerney said. “You could see where the aircraft had impacted the cliff and it appeared to have slid down about 10 to 15 feet. It was compacted and a bit crumpled and the wing was broken. There appears to have been a small fire.”
The wreckage will not be easy to reach, said Kerney, who initially thought he could lower one of his rescue personnel but decided it was too dangerous.
“There are no roads and there may not be any trails in the area,” he said. “It’s pretty steep in a lot of places.”
Student pilots are allowed to fly solo at age 16 and may obtain a private pilot’s license when they are 17.
Hayes was a member of the Hawaii Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, said Col. Stanley Fernandez, wing commander. When he was deputy commander about a year ago, Fernandez was Hayes’ commander.
The young pilot was immediately interested in the patrol’s glider program, said Fernandez, who was there the first day Hayes flew in a glider.
The boy had expressed the same nervousness everyone shows prior to their first flight but when it was over, “he had a big bright smile,” Fernandez said.
“He just wanted to fly. He was one of those cadets who just seemed to be a natural in flying.”
