Updated at 7:35 a.m., Thursday, March 8, 2007
Gathering Saturday will honor plane crash victims
Advertiser Staff
Friends, co-workers and families of the victims of two fatal Hawaii Air Ambulance accidents will be gathering Saturday at Kailua Beach to commemorate the anniversary of the March 8, 2006, crash on Maui and the Jan. 31, 2004, crash on the Big Island.Both accidents killed all three people aboard each plane.
Killed in the Maui crash last year were Peter Miller, Marlena Yomes and Brien Eisaman. In 2004, Danny Villaros, Mandy Shiraki and Ron Lubacher were killed in an HAA crash.
The gathering will be at 1 p.m. in front of Popoi'a "Flat" Island, with a 2 p.m. prayer service and scattering of ashes followed by a potluck from 3 to 6 p.m. in the pavilion behind the boat ramp.
In March of last year, HAA's twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed in the parking lot of a BMW auto dealership near busy Ka'ahumanu Avenue at about 7:15 p.m., killing all three on board.
On Jan. 31, 2004, an HAA Cessna 414A smashed into a Laupahoehoe forest on the Big Island during a late-night flight for a patient pickup in Hilo. The pilot and two crew members were killed.
Donations will be accepted on site and contributed to a memorial fund.
Contact Rick White at 342-2334 for more information.
