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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:45 a.m., Wednesday, January 29, 2003

Recovery of plane proving difficult

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Federal investigators have yet to come up with a plan to recover the wreckage of a plane that crashed on a rugged, windswept ridge on Moloka'i's remote northeast coast.

The crumpled Cessna 172 may hold clues about what caused the crash Saturday that killed its pilot, 17-year-old Chezray Hayes. His body was recovered Monday by Maui firefighters who rappelled down a cliff face to reach the plane.

"Right now they are trying to figure out the recovery and how that will work out," said Howard Plagens, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board in Gardena, Calif. "Hopefully there will be a decision, maybe today. It is just a difficult recovery."

A helicopter will be needed to lift the Cessna off Manuahi Ridge, which is in The Nature Conservancy's remote 5,714-acre Pelekunu Preserve, Plagens said.

If that proves too difficult, the plane could be left on the ridge, Plagens said.

A safety board investigator is in Hawai'i reviewing airplane records for the Cessna, the training of the pilot, the history of his instructors, weather factors and radar data ­ all things that could help explain the accident.

Hayes was a senior at Mililani High School who had accumulated 30 hours of flight time while a member of the Hawaii Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. He was flying solo on the day of the crash. His last radio contact was at 12:15 p.m. with the Moloka'i airport.

An autopsy will be conducted, said Maui County Police Lt. Jon Morioka.