PHOTO COURTESY OF YORK DAILY RECORD
Nicole Laughman, left, her mother, Jody Laughman, and stepfather James Thomas pose at a park. The family died Sunday when the helicopter they were in crashed at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Pilot Russell Holliday also was killed.
NTSB to reconstruct
downed Big Isle chopperOfficials do not rule out any causes
for the crash that killed four
CORRECTION
Thursday, June 19, 2003» A family of three killed in a helicopter crash in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Sunday was from Lake Meade, Pa. A story on Page A6 yesterday incorrectly labeled the town as Meade Lake. Also, a Pennsylvania newspaper that interviewed the family's neighbors is the York Daily Record. It was incorrectly identified as the York Daily Register.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.HILO >> James Thomas and Jody Laughman of Meade Lake, Pa., bought tickets to Hawaii a year before their visit this month, said their neighbor Heather Selfe.
After arriving June 9, they called home Friday to check on their 14-year-old cat Kirby, she said.
"They were having a wonderful time. I'm glad for that," she told the York Daily Register in Pennsylvania.
Thomas, Laughman, and Laughman's 13-year-old daughter Nicole died Sunday when the Hughes 500-D tour helicopter they were in crashed in a field of lava rock in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Also killed was pilot Russell Holliday, said to have extensive experience flying in Idaho.
"We all thought the world of him," said Pam Aunan, an acquaintance in Coolin, Idaho. "His skills as a pilot were extraordinarily good."
Investigators are concentrating on reconstructing the helicopter in a hangar at Hilo airport, National Transportation Safety Board officer Tealeye Cornejo said in a news conference yesterday.
The fire that followed the crash burned the passenger compartment forward of a firewall, Cornejo said. The engine behind the firewall was undamaged by the fire, which should help in determining the cause of the crash.
Cornejo offered no theories about what went wrong. "It's too soon to rule out anything," she said. She denied a report that the pilot radioed an engine failure before the crash.
National park ranger Jim Gale was amazed at the idea of reconstructing a helicopter from fragments.
"The story is that they're taking apart and reconstructing a helicopter now," he said. "It's tragic with the loss of life of anyone. What can be salvaged from that?" is the question officials will try to answer, he said.
Many questions were unanswered. Two of the bodies were found inside the aircraft and two were outside, Cornejo said. She didn't know why.
Aircraft owner Tropical Helicopters advertised a "Feel the Heat" tour of lava fields with aircraft doors removed. Cornejo didn't know if this was such a flight.
There were no eyewitnesses to the crash, Cornejo said. "No one has stepped forward."
A flight restriction zone had been established by the national park above a still smoldering 5,000-acre fire bordering the lava flows. The purpose was to keep other aircraft out of the way of park helicopters dropping water, Gale said.
Cornejo revealed that the Tropical helicopter was found just inside the restriction zone. Gale said it would be hard for any pilot to know exactly where the zone ended. "It's subject to human error," he said.
Cornejo confirmed that the helicopter was involved in another accident 17 years ago, but she did not know the details. Just a few days ago the helicopter had completed a standard 100-hour inspection and maintenance procedure, she said.
