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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:07 a.m., Friday, April 20, 2007

Brake failure caused Mauna Kea crash that killed 2

Associated Press

HILO, Hawai'i — A police investigation found that brake failure on a rental car caused the one-car crash that killed two people last month on the Big Island's dormant volcano Mauna Kea.

Yuko Aizawa, 33, of Osaki-Shi, Japan, and Honolulu resident Philip Patrick Lung, 34, died March 27 after Lung drove the rental vehicle off the Mauna Kea Access Road just above the Visitor Information Center.

Aizawa was a student at Central Pacific College on O'ahu, where Lung taught.

"It was not a defective brake, they wore out," said police spokeswoman Chris Loos. She said the 2006 red Jeep Wrangler was in low gear and Lung was using four-wheel drive when the accident occurred.

The Jeep was rented out by Dollar Rent A Car. Jay Blanco, a Dollar rental agent located at the Hilo International Airport, said the company does not authorize renters to take their vehicle up Mauna Kea.

Lung had taken a group of students from the college on a one-day trip to the Big Island.

Lung's wife, Ryoko Lung, 31, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered serious injuries.

Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com