Downed tour plane's engine was working
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — A preliminary investigation into the crash of a Piper Warrior tour airplane last month on the Big Island found no evidence of engine or equipment failure.
National Transportation Safety Board air safety inspector Patrick Jones said investigators so far have been unable to interview injured pilot Jelica Matic, who told rescuers that the Island Hoppers tour plane was caught in a severe downdraft April 18, forcing it down on a lava flow about six miles northeast of Miloli'i.
Matic and her two passengers, Dallas and Catherine Ratcliff of West Portsmouth, Ohio, all suffered burns from a fire that ignited after the crash.
Dallas Ratcliff, 61, was burned over about 40 percent of his body and his 63-year-old wife was burned over about 10 percent of her body. Both were listed in stable condition yesterday at Straub Hospital in Honolulu.
Catherine Ratcliff's son, Rick Wilson, said yesterday his stepfather told hospital visitors that he tried to use his body to shield his wife from the fire. That resulted in a pattern of burns to his torso, hands and face, while Catherine Ratcliff suffered burns mostly to her extremities, Wilson said.
Matic has asked hospital officials not to release information about her condition.
Wilson said the family has retained a lawyer to look into the crash, partly out of concern over the Ratcliffs' mounting medical bills. He said he has been told the combined cost of treating the couples' burn injuries may reach $1 million, and the family is worried because their lawyer reported that Island Hoppers' insurance coverage is limited to $100,000 per passenger.
"That's just ridiculous," said Wilson in a telephone interview from Ohio. "Those planes over there that carry people back and forth should be forced to carry more (insurance) than that. I own a pizza place and I carry $3 million."
Phil Auldridge, president of Above It All Inc., which does business as Island Hoppers, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
According to the preliminary NTSB report on the crash released yesterday, the Island Hoppers flight left the Kona airport at 4:20 p.m. under good weather conditions for a two-hour tour of the volcanos. Matic, who had been working at the company since April 7, used a wireless phone to report the crash at 4:46 p.m. Rescue crews from the U.S. Coast Guard found the wreckage at 9:09 p.m.
The report said records for the pilot and aircraft showed no deficiencies, and that the plane had undergone an annual inspection March 4.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
