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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 4:40 p.m., Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Tour helicopter crashes on Kaua'i

Advertiser Staff

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Five people died in a helicopter crash on Kaua'i this morning.

The five-seat tour helicopter was overdue while on a one-hour tour of Kaua'i this morning.

The aircraft was operated by Jack Harter Helicopters, one of the island's oldest tour chopper firms.

The Bell 206B chopper, which seats a pilot and four passengers, left Lihu'e at 8:03 a.m. and was scheduled back at 9:05 a.m., Walker said.

When the tour helicopter did not return on schedule, the company sent its two other helicopters out to search.

A police report indicated the pilot had made radio contact about 9 a.m., just a few minutes before his scheduled return to the heliport at Lihu'e Airport.