Helicopter crash on Big Island kills four
• Update: Cause of crash under review
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
Investigators were to arrive today from Los Angeles and Honolulu to comb through the wreckage of a helicopter that slammed into Kilauea Volcano yesterday morning, killing four people.
Three tourists and the pilot were killed when a Tropical Helicopters Hughes 500 experienced engine trouble and crashed onto the site of a recent lava flow. The helicopter burst into flames upon impact.
The victims' names were not released yesterday, pending notification of family members.
At 9:48 a.m. yesterday — 31 minutes into the flight of the 50-minute volcano tour from Hilo International Airport — the pilot issued a "mayday" call and said he was having engine trouble, said Tweet Coleman, FAA Pacific representative.
Two minutes later, the copter was down. A helicopter fighting a forest fire at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park flew over the crash site and saw the aircraft in flames, said Jim Gale, Volcanoes National Park spokesman.
The firefighting helicopter dumped water on the flames. There were no witnesses to the crash, Gale said.
"We heard the radio call, and we lost radio contact," Gale said.
This was the first fatal tour helicopter crash in the state in three years. Seven people died in July 2000 when a Blue Hawaiian Helicopters aircraft crashed into the side of 'Iao Valley on Maui.
A Los Angeles investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board was to begin her investigation today, along with two people from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Tropical Helicopters flies Hughes 500 aircraft for its tours. The model is popular worldwide, an FAA official says.
The names of the dead were expected to be released today.
The Hughes 500 helicopter went down about 2 miles inland from the Pu'u O'o vent, Coleman said.
"The helicopter was following the shoreline, flying south, and was already coming up north back to Hilo," Coleman said. "The pilot knew he had a problem and called in a mayday and that signified a major problem. A couple minutes later and the wreckage was sighted."
Tropical Helicopters is the same firm that had a helicopter crash-land with five people aboard in a Kea'au field on the Big Island in September 2001.
The pilot of that helicopter reported engine trouble, but no one was seriously injured in the crash that destroyed the Bell 206 helicopter in a field near the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut farm. The pilot was credited with quick thinking for getting the passengers out of the burning aircraft.
Tropical Helicopters is registered to do business in Hawai'i as K & S Helicopters Inc. The company was incorporated in 1997, and has its headquarters in Kailua, Kona. Calvin Dorn is listed on state business registration documents as the president.
The Hughes 500 was certified by the FAA in 1999 and is a popular model worldwide, Coleman said.
The crash site, which is past the Chain of Craters Road, can only be reached by helicopter, she said.
It's a popular area for tour helicopters Each year, more than 30,000 helicopters fly over the active volcano, Gale said.
"The pilot has a lot of experience and is familiar with the area," Coleman said.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
