PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HAYES FAMILY
Chezray Hayes, front, a student pilot missing since Saturday, loves to fly, according to his mother.
Pilots say Molokai WAILUKU >> Pilots know Molokai's weather and visibility can change quickly with thick clouds obscuring mountain ridges such as the one where the wreckage of a single-engine airplane was found yesterday morning.
weather can be fatal
Teen determined, dependable
By Gary T. Kubota and Rosemarie Bernardo
gkubota@starbulletin.com, rbernardo@starbulletin.comGreg Kahlstorf, president of Pacific Wings, said quickly shifting weather patterns and high air-traffic volume between Oahu and Molokai contribute to a relatively high number of fatalities on the Friendly Isle.
"It has to do with the geography of the island," Kahlstorf said.
A Maui fire rescue helicopter, searching for 17-year-old student pilot Chezray Hayes and a single-engine airplane, found the wreckage at 7:05 a.m. yesterday between the 1,400- and 1,500-foot level in northeast Molokai. The Cessna 172 appears to have flown straight into the west side of Manuahi Ridge near Pelekunu Valley, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Kevin Kerney said.
Firefighters recovered a body, which was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center for an autopsy and identification.
Authorities said a logo on the tail of the wrecked plane fits the description of the symbol belonging to George's Aviation Services, whose plane Hayes was flying. Maui fire Capt. Frank Tam said the wreckage "more than likely" was that of the company's Cessna.
"If they were able to identify my logo, that is my plane, and that is the only plane out there with my logo that is not here at this moment," said owner George Hanzawa.
Hayes took off from Honolulu Airport at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and was expected to land at Kahului Airport on Maui at 1 p.m., the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard officials said Hayes' last radio contact was with the tower at the Molokai Airport at 12:15 p.m., and he planned to check in again when he reached the east side of Molokai at 12:24 p.m. But he never did.
According to a Star-Bulletin survey, Molokai is second only to Oahu in the number of fatal air crashes since 1980.
Oahu had 40 fatalities in 12 crashes, followed by Molokai with 32 fatalities in five crashes, Maui with 29 fatalities in nine crashes, the Big Island with 14 fatalities in 11 crashes and Lanai with three fatalities in two crashes.
Phil Olsen, safety director for a flight school on Oahu associated with Honolulu Community College, said he was not surprised by the number of fatalities and crashes on Molokai in the last 22 years.
Olsen said that when the weather is bad, student pilots should avoid flying the north shore of Molokai.
Federal Aviation Administration official Pete Beckner said Hayes was a student pilot in the process of getting his private-flight pilot license and was flying by visual-flight rules.
Hayes was on a solo flight to Maui from Honolulu as a requirement for a private pilot's license, Hanzawa said. He said Hayes had 30 hours of flight time.
Neither the Coast Guard nor Maui fire rescue officials heard signals from the emergency locator transmitter, which is supposed to be activated in a crash to assist in finding an aircraft.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Nicole Charnon said the emergency locator transmitter may not have sent a signal for a number of reasons, including a dislocated antenna, fire or the dislocation of a battery.
Charnon said she and other officials hope to recover the wreckage and take a look at it today. "That's being very optimistic," she said.
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Natalie and Mitch Hayes waited close by the phone at their Mililani home yesterday for more information about the wreckage of a small plane found on a remote ridge on Molokai. Pilot’s mother remembers
teen as determined
and dependable
By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.comTheir 17-year-old son, Chezray Hayes, was last heard from about 12:15 p.m. Saturday east of Kalaupapa, Molokai, on a solo flight to Maui from Honolulu.
"I don't think it looks too good," said Natalie Hayes.
"I would give up my life to get him back," she cried.
Recovery crews pulled a male body from the wreckage late yesterday afternoon and took it to Maui pending identification and an autopsy, according to a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Chezray Hayes was on his first solo interisland flight. The flight was required to get his private pilot's license. He aspired to be a commercial pilot, his mother said.
"He loved it. It gave him independence," said Natalie, a flight attendant with Aloha Airlines.
Hayes' father, Mitch, is a flight attendant with Hawaiian Airlines, and his grandfather, George Stout, earned his pilot's license at 18.
Chezray Hayes started taking flight instruction at George's Aviation Services in September. He had been involved in the Civil Air Patrol for the last three years and was a senior cadet with the organization.
"My son is a good pilot," Natalie Hayes said. "He knew what he was doing. I know he was determined to get to Maui."
Natalie speculated that the plane her son was operating got caught in the clouds.
"I know the clouds just overtook him. I know he didn't see the ridge," she said.
Hayes had planned to attend Leeward Community College and transfer to University of Hawaii-Manoa to get a degree in marketing and advertising while pursuing his goal of becoming a pilot, his mother said.
Though he was 17, people described Chezray Hayes as "an old soul in a young body," his mother said.
Chezray, a senior at Mililani High School, took courses such as Algebra II, Electronic Media, British Literature and Conceptual Physics.
Hayes also was a pole vaulter with the school's track and field team. Recently he started training at home, riding a bike and lifting weights to get in shape for the upcoming season.
Natalie further described her son as a dependable person who watched over his two younger sisters, 9-year-old Taliya and 6-year-old Keylee.
"If you needed someone to rely on, it would be my son," she said.
Natalie and Mitch Hayes said their son's first name, Chezray, is based on a the character Caesare, played by actor Peter Gallagher in the 1980 movie "The Idolmaker."
"He is my idol," Natalie said of her son.
At Mililani High School, some of Hayes' classmates talked to counselors after hearing that a Maui Fire Department helicopter found wreckage.
"We are prepared for the worst and hopeful for the best," said Hayes' counselor, Jeffrey Lum.
Members of the school's Fellowship Club held a prayer for Hayes during yesterday's morning recess.
