Experienced pilot lost life in crash
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Ron Laubacher was the son of a commercial airline pilot and grew up around pilots. From the time he was a boy, he planned to make flying his career.
Laubacher, 38, flew air tours over the Grand Canyon, and after moving to Hawai'i, he piloted fixed-wing air ambulances on emergency runs between O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands. He was looking for a job with one of the major commercial airlines and was considering a possible position as a pilot of corporate jets.
Ron Laubacher died when his plane crashed on the Big Island Saturday.
Those plans ended Saturday when the Hawai'i Air Ambulance Cessna 414A Chancellor piloted by Laubacher crashed in stormy weather about 25 miles northwest of Hilo, killing him and Honolulu paramedics Joseph Daniel Villiaros, 39, and Mandy Shiraki, 47.
"He always loved flying. He always knew he wanted to be a pilot," said Laubacher's older sister, Pam Swigert. "It seemed like the risk of flying — it's just been in our family for so long that it wasn't a fear."
The Cessna was on the last leg of a flight from Honolulu to Hilo Medical Center to evacuate a 9-year-old patient. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Hilo yesterday to begin the inquiry into the cause of the crash, examining the wreckage in dense forest at the 3,600-foot elevation at 'Umikoa. Autopsies for the crash victims have been scheduled for Friday, family members said.
People felt safe flying with Laubacher, one of 15 pilots employed by Hawai'i Air Ambulance. He had been flying in Hawai'i for five years — four years with the air ambulance company — and had more than 8,000 hours of flight time, a considerable amount.
The crews that worked with him considered him a top-notch professional.
An FAA spokesman said Laubacher had valid commercial and air transport pilot licenses as well as a flight instructor's license.
Melinda Shiraki, wife of crash victim Mandy Shiraki, said Monday that firefighters approached her at the recovery command post near the crash site to assure her that Laubacher was respected and highly skilled. "They said they don't know what to say because this is the pilot that does these runs night after night," she said. "If there is anybody who knew how to get out of trouble, it would have been him. But for some reason, it just didn't work with them."
Authorities said the plane veered off the usual path for air ambulances on the journey to Hilo. Those flights usually follow the coast at about 9,500 feet, but Laubacher headed farther inland and was flying at about 5,900 feet.
The last confirmed radar contact was at 1:29 a.m. Saturday, when the Cessna passed near the Waimea-Kohala Airport. Searchers found the wreckage on Monday.
Fire crews said the plane appeared to be headed away from Mauna Kea toward the ocean when it hit several trees and crashed.
Laubacher, called "Ronnie" by his family, grew up in Chatsworth, Calif., in the San Fernando Valley. He was one of seven children, and fell in love with Hawai'i during family trips here.
He had a "big heart," said Adam Gordon, Laubacher's close friend since high school.
Some of Laubacher's younger friends in Honolulu nicknamed him "Auntie," teasing him for his habit of cooking and taking care of the people around him.
Laubacher called Gordon in Las Vegas last week to say he was planning a Disneyland vacation this month with his girlfriend.
Gordon, who said Laubacher was the only pilot he would trust at the controls of a small plane, recalled a time years ago when the two friends were caught in a storm in a small aircraft in Florida.
"He was cool and calm, when I'm freaking out thinking this might be my last flight ever," Gordon said. "I could feel the wind pushing the plane all over the place, but he ... got the plane down on the ground.
"I don't think Ron made a mistake," Gordon said of the Big Island crash. "I think the weather had something to do with whatever happened, because Ron was a very competent pilot."
After the crash, residents in the Waikiki building where Laubacher lived rallied to support his mother, who lives in the same building.
"This is as happy as he has ever been in his life," said Swigert of her brother's time in Hawai'i. "He was doing exactly what he wanted to do, and he has really good friends."
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
