Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

No report yet
on cause of Kauai
copter accident

By Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondent

LIHUE -- The second anniversary of the June 25, 1998 helicopter crash that killed the pilot and five tourists on Mount Waialeale will come and go without a final report on the cause, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said.

NTSB investigator Wayne Pollack suffered a heart attack shortly after completing his investigation, said Jamie Finch, chief public information officer for the agency. Since his return to work, Pollack has repeatedly been called on to work on major crashes such as the Alaska Airlines accident, so the Kauai crash has had to take a back seat, Finch said Tuesday.

"We have a very small number of investigators and Wayne is our primary helicopter expert in the Western states, so he carries a big load," Finch said. "The field work was done a long time ago but the report isn't completed."

Two years ago, Pollack refused to cite a cause for the accident until his report was complete but said the remains of the Ohana Helicopters Aerostar 350B showed the helicopter had no mechanical problems at the time of the crash.

There were high winds, heavy rain and swirling clouds at the top of the mountain at the time of the accident. Mount Waialeale is reputed to have more annual rainfall than any other place on the planet.

Ohana pilot Chuck Lowe, a retired Navy pilot, radioed he was changing course because of bad weather and never was heard from again. His helicopter was found scattered down a steep slope of Mt. Waialeale. An identical Ohana helicopter was flying just ahead of Lowe's aircraft and completed the 50-minute tour safely.

Killed in the crash were Lowe, John and Maxine Spin of Twinsburg, Ohio, and Andrew Yang, 10, his cousin Rebecca Muse, 9, and her mother Pauline, all of Lake Oswego, Ore. Yang's parents were in the helicopter that landed safely.