Pilot glad
that none are
killed in crash

There was not much time
to get everyone out after landing
in water off the Big Isle

---

By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

WAIMEA, Hawaii >> The pilot of a ditched tour plane off the Big Island's Hamakua Coast had about 50 seconds to get four passengers out of his plane yesterday before it sank. He saved them all.

All were treated a North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea, and three were admitted in stable condition, hospital chief of staff Dr. Samuel Gingrich said yesterday.

"I think they were all happy to be here," he said.

The pilot of the Mokulele Flight Service Cessna 337, Michael Lauro, 47, of Kailua-Kona, and his front-seat passenger, Marco Greca, 29, from a town near Sao Paulo, Brazil, suffered only minor injuries, Gingrich said.

Greca's wife, Adrianne, 26, suffered a back fracture and cuts on her face, Gingrich said.

"She will heal and will be fine," he said.

Joseph Rhett Varnadore, 39, of San Leandro, Calif., suffered numerous cuts. His wife Ruth, 36, got some water in her lungs --- Gingrich called the case "mild" -- and was to stay at the hospital overnight for observation.

At his home last night, Lauro described himself as still tired from the events, needing rest and not wanting to comment on details of the accident. But he said he was happy that all his passengers survived.

"I am extremely glad. My first concern was to make sure everybody was OK. I'm grateful to almighty God. I'm a strong Christian. I give Him all the glory. I really thank God," he said.

Lauro made no public statement about the details of the accident, but he described the ditching to Gingrich, hospital nursing supervisor John Lyman and Federal Aviation Administration officials, all of whom gave descriptions of his account.

Honolulu-based FAA investigator Dave Ryon said the Cessna was on a nearly two-hour tour of the Big Island, cruising at 2,000-feet elevation, heading northwest, when both engines on the Cessna quit just north of Laupahoehoe Point.

Lauro went through emergency procedures to restart the engines, got them to sputter briefly, but then realized he would have to bring the plane down without power either on land, where there were numerous obstacles, or on the water, Ryon said.

The passengers were already wearing "quick donning" life vests on their stomach. Lauro instructed them to pull a loop of the vests over their heads.

He ordered the plane's doors to be opened a crack for easy exiting on hitting the water.

Two or three other tour aircraft were in the area and relayed a mayday call from Lauro. County Fire Department rescue personnel, who eventually pulled the survivors from the water using a helicopter, put the time of the emergency call at 8:25 a.m.

When the plane touched down 28 miles northwest of Hilo, it bounced off the water several times, then settled down.

The plane's Plexiglas windshield cracked in the landing. Lauro knocked it out and swam out of the plane.

Lauro said he had 45 to 50 seconds to pull people out of the plane, according to Gingrich.

Ryon said the passengers got out of the plane on their own, but Lauro was diving underwater to help them, being especially concerned about Ruth Varnable, who was seated the farthest back in the plane.

Nurse Lyman said Lauro told of pulling on arms and legs. After all were out, one man wanted to swim away, but Lauro kept them all together, Lyman said.

Ryon said Lauro has "six or seven years" of flying experience on the Big Island with a good safety record.

The airplane, although an unusual type with a puller propeller in the front and a pusher propeller in the back between two tail booms, did not have a history of problems.

Lyman, a former pilot, said the plane was used as a forward observation aircraft in Vietnam.

Ryon said it is unusual for both engines to quit at the same time. The FAA will look at the possibility that fuel contamination caused the accident, he said.

The fuel in Kona used by Mokulele Flight Service will be examined, he said.

Lauro told investigators the plane went into the water about 50 yards offshore. Ryon said he was not sure of the water depth there, but it is unlikely that authorities will try to recover the plane.

"The hardest accidents to investigate are those where you don't have any aircraft," he said.

Although the investigation is being done by the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board will try to determine the cause of the accident, using FAA information.