1 injured as copter A 50-year-old California man was slightly injured yesterday when a tour helicopter made an emergency landing in a Keaau field on the Big Island.
forced to set down
The 4 passengers and pilot
were able to escape before
it was destroyed by fireStar-Bulletin staff
Four tourists and a pilot were able to escape the Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter before it was destroyed by fire.
The craft, which went down near the Hawaii Electric Light Co. power plant, belonged to Tropical Helicopters.
Police said the helicopter's engine failed.
Those aboard were alerted to a problem when they heard a pop at the rear of the craft and smoke started filling the cabin, said police officer Iris McGuire.
"Next thing they knew, they heard the pilot saying 'Mayday' and trying to land," she said.
The helicopter was five minutes out of Hilo Airport as it headed toward Kalapana Black Sands to view lava flows.
The injured man was treated by fire and rescue workers for a head abrasion and refused to go to the hospital, McGuire said. None of the others aboard were injured.
Fire Capt. Steven Narikiyo said the craft was fully engulfed by the time firefighters got to the scene about five minutes after the 2:31 p.m. call.
Fire officials estimated the loss of the helicopter at $250,000.
Tropical Helicopters operates tours out of Hilo and Kona airports, according to its Web site. The 49-year-old female pilot works for K & S Helicopters, police said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Tweet Coleman said the National Transportation Safety Board was not sending representatives because there were no fatalities.
This morning, she said, the FAA was to send two aviation safety inspectors to Hilo to investigate the accident.