Investigators revisit air ambulance crash site
By Kevin Dayton and Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers
Federal investigators spent a second day examining the 500-foot-long trail of debris left by Saturday's crash of a Hawai'i Air Ambulance plane in dense forest northwest of Hilo.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Two investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and two from the Federal Aviation Administration revisited the site near 'Umikoa yesterday, and tentatively plan to remove the wreckage tomorrow for further study, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway.
Mike Yamamoto, chief operating officer of Hawaii Air Ambulance, left, consoles Dominica Villiaros, whose son Joseph Daniel Villiaros died Saturday in the crash of an air ambulance on the Big Island.
Family members of two of the three men who died in crash talked with reporters yesterday at the Hawai'i Air Ambulance headquarters off Lagoon Drive. They spoke of their grief and of how much the victims enjoyed their jobs.
Killed in the early morning crash were pilot Ron Laubacher, 38, and paramedics Joseph Daniel Villiaros, 39, and Mandy Shiraki, 47. Shiraki was an Emergency Medical Services district supervisor in Honolulu, and Villiaros was a Honolulu firefighter.
The crew was on its way to pick up a Hilo patient for transport to Honolulu when the Cessna 414A Chancellor went down in stormy weather sometime after the last radar contact at 1:29 a.m. Saturday. The wreckage was discovered Monday at the 3,600-foot elevation.
Dominica Villiaros said her son knew the dangers of his jobs as a firefighter and crew member on the air ambulance, but put his faith in God.
Hawai'i National Bank has set up funds to help the families of crash victims Mandy Shiraki, Ron Laubacher and Joseph Daniel Villiaros. A general fund to assist all three also has been established. Send checks to: Hawai'i National Bank, 540 Lagoon Drive, Honolulu, HI 96819, or call 831-3411 for information.
"With the kind of faith he had, he just lived his life fully every day. He loved people. He impacted so many lives doing this kind of job," she said. "He did what he wanted to do, and we're very proud of him."
Family funds
Dominica Villiaros said she cherished every day that she had her son in her life.
"I'm so glad that God had given me Danny for almost 40 years. To me that's a blessing," she said. "As far as the family is concerned, we're OK, we're OK. If I had to talk to the Lord, I'd say, 'All is well with myself.' "
Ruth Laubacher said it was her only son's dream to be a pilot, and that he loved Hawai'i and his co-workers.
"To me, he is still with me. I haven't accepted it, and I'm not ready to accept it yet," she said.
Mark Turpin, Ron Laubacher's cousin, flew from Washington state to be with the pilot's mother. He said his cousin had "true joy" and loved his job.
"He loved that sky, and he loved what he did, and that's a blessing to be able to do and die (doing) what you loved," Turpin said.
Laubacher was one of 15 pilots employed by Hawai'i Air Ambulance, and had been flying in Hawai'i for five years. He was considered an experienced pilot, with more than 8,000 hours of flight time.
Those in the emergency services field who knew Laubacher said he was a skilled professional who had flown many nighttime routes.
But there are blemishes on his flying record — matters that were resolved before he was hired by Hawai'i Air Ambulance in 2000.
According to FAA records released yesterday, Laubacher had his pilot's license suspended for 180 days on Sept. 29, 1999, because he had two convictions for drunken driving within three years, and because he had failed to report the second DUI conviction within 60 days, which he was required to do under federal regulations.
His FAA medical certificate was revoked the same year for making "an incorrect statement" to the agency on his application to renew the certificate. Medical certificates must be renewed every six months to a year.
FAA spokesman Donn Walker said Laubacher's pilot's license and medical certificate were later restored, and both were valid at the time of Saturday's crash.
There has been no evidence so far that drugs or alcohol played any part in the Hawai'i Air Ambulance crash.
The FAA records do not indicate when or where Laubacher's DUI convictions occurred, but he lived in Las Vegas where he piloted air tours over the Grand Canyon before moving to Hawai'i.
Andrew Kluger, Hawai'i Air Ambulance chairman and chief executive officer, said he was aware of Laubacher's problems in Las Vegas.
"The story that I've heard was his father died and he was grieving," Kluger said. "In Las Vegas, it's very easy to go to a casino, play cards and get drinks. He got a couple of DUIs that I'm aware of. But here in Hawai'i, nothing. We never had an issue with him with drugs or alcohol, and there's constant checking here."
Kluger said his company reviewed Laubacher's record before hiring him.
"If the FAA approves it and there are indications of what the reason was and there was rehabilitation, we don't look at it. It's the start of a new day and we're not going to hold a person's grief against him."
Additional FAA records released yesterday show Laubacher was involved in an incident at the Las Vegas airport on Sept. 23, 1993, when he landed with the left side main landing gear of his plane still retracted.
Laubacher was flying for a company called Adventure Airlines, but the records do not indicate whether the accident was caused by a mechanical failure or pilot error.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916. Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
