NTSB may look at links in crashes

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

HA'IKU, Kaua'i — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that her agency may study links between three Kaua'i tour helicopter crashes that have killed 16 people in six years on the same rugged mountainside.

Conners

"Our first priority is determining what happened. Right now our investigation is a blank slate," Conners said.

"We could also look for patterns or trends to see if there are safety concerns or steps to take. There may be some issues later we want to discuss with the (Federal Aviation Administration). We look on each one separately, but we also look for commonality. If we see common elements we can certainly try to do something about it," she said.

"Right now, though, we want to complete the investigation of this crash. Our first priority and sympathy is with the families of people killed in the crash," she said.

The NTSB so far has been limited in its investigation because it has been unable to inspect the Bali Hai wreckage, which remains scattered on a steep cliffside at the 2,700-foot elevation.

A Kaua'i Fire Department recovery team yesterday removed two more bodies from the crash site. Two were recovered Monday, and a fifth is trapped underneath the helicopter fuselage and will have to remain there until the wreckage is salvaged, most likely with the aid of another helicopter, officials said.

Rescue Capt. Colin Wilson said the fuselage is too heavy for a ground team to lift, and is just four or five feet above a vertical drop. "If it started sliding, it could cut our lines," he said.

County public information officer Cyndi Ozaki said autopsies were to be performed yesterday on the recovered remains. The identities of the victims have not been officially released, but family and friends identified two victims as nurse Tamara Zytkowski, 30, of Westlake, Ohio, and her boyfriend, attorney Thomas J. Huemmer, 36, of Avon, Ohio. A German couple and the pilot, believed to be a veteran of India's air force, have not yet been named.

It may be a year or more before a final NTSB determination is made on the cause of the crash. The agency still has not filed a final report on the July 23, 2003, crash of a Jack Harter Helicopters Bell 206B on Mount Wai'ale'ale that also killed five.

The Bali Hai helicopter involved in Friday's tragedy also was a Bell 206B.

Of the eight fatal tour helicopter crashes in Hawai'i in the past decade, three have involved Bell 206B aircraft, three involved Hughes/McDonnell Douglas 369D aircraft and two were Aerospatiale/Eurocopter 350 series helicopters.

Of 25 fatal helicopter crashes involving the Bell 206B in the United States over the past 10 years, the NTSB determined that 16 were caused or contributed to by pilot error. One crash involved crew error, two were a result of mechanical problems, and in the other six cases, including Friday's crash, the cause had not been determined.

Pilot error was cited in the June 25, 1998, crash of an Ohana Helicopters Aerospatiale/Eurocopter 350 that killed six on Kaua'i.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said "most accidents are indeed caused by human error," no matter what type of aircraft is involved.

"We can't take the human factor out of flying," he said.

But Walker also said that traveling by air — including in helicopters — is safer than traveling by any other means.

"Air transportation is the safest method of transportation in the country, and we have the safest system in the world," he said. "Scheduled airline service is the safest mode of air travel, but even general aviation (including tour helicopters) is much safer than anything on the ground."

At the Bali Hai crash site yesterday, three rescue specialists — Solomon Kanoho, Tim Stokesbary and Jeff Weiss — were lowered to the wreckage by a winch mounted on an Army Black Hawk helicopter from the 68th Medical Company on O'ahu. The trio worked while dangling from safety lines in gusting wind and inching along near-vertical, muddy slopes.

Wilson, the rescue captain, said wreckage was strewn at least 50 yards from the fuselage.

He said the conditions on the rough, wet cliffs between Mount Kahili and Mount Wai'ale'ale are among the most hazardous on the island for rescue work because of steep terrain, powerful, whirling winds and plunging downdrafts.

"We work the Na Pali cliffs, but this is probably the worst place on the island. You get that venturi effect. We got caught in a downdraft (in a helicopter Sunday) and we lost about 1,000 feet in so many seconds," Wilson said.

The venturi effect is that when air speed increases, there is a reduction in air pressure.

Also yesterday, the owner of Bali Hai Helicopter Tours, James Le, issued the company's first statement since the crash.

"Our prayers and thoughts are constantly focused on those persons who lost their lives. I can assure their families that we, a small family-owned-and-operated business, share your grief," the statement said.

Le thanked search and recovery crews, a supportive community and "the comfort and solace provided by Kaua'i Hospice," which has been providing counseling to grieving family members and rescue workers.

Mike Leidemann contributed to this report.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.

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