Kona crash investigation begins
| • | Officials cite need for 'enhanced' 911 |
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Two passengers in a tour plane that crashed Sunday near Miloli'i remained in critical condition in a Honolulu hospital yesterday, as federal investigators arrived on the Big Island to begin an inquiry into the crash.
Paul Schlamm, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency dispatched two investigators to look into the crash of the Island Hoppers tour plane in south Kona, and they were joined by a third investigator from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The pilot, Jelica Matic, was also hospitalized. A spokeswoman for The Queen's Medical Center said Matic asked that no information be released about her condition, but reports after the crash indicated she was also critically injured, with the pilot and both passengers suffering burns.
The passengers, Catherine and Dallas Ratcliff of West Portsmouth, Ohio, were at Straub Hospital yesterday.
The retired couple, on a two-week vacation in Hawai'i, were taking air tours of each of the major islands they visited, according to Rick Wilson, son of Catherine Ratcliff.
The single-engine Piper Warrior left the Kona airport at 4:15 p.m. Sunday and was reported down about 15 minutes later.
Schlamm said the NTSB has no information on what might have caused the crash, but Matic told Coast Guard rescuers that the Island Hoppers plane was caught in a severe downdraft.
The Piper Warrior aircraft that crashed was built in 1982 and registered to Above It All Inc., an aircraft rental and flight training company based in Waikoloa, according to state and Federal Aviation Administration records.
Above It All shares a Web site with Island Hoppers.
State records list Phil Auldridge as president of Above It All, and he is also listed on the Web site as president of the air tour company.
Phone calls to the company for comment were not returned.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
