Pilot hurt in copter
crash in KoolausThe helicopter had been
contracted by the Army from
a tour firm to transport gear
The pilot of a helicopter ferrying equipment for the Army was slightly injured when his aircraft crashed yesterday in the Koolau mountains.
CORRECTION
Friday, Dec. 19, 2003>> The Hughes 500 helicopter that crashed in the Koolau Mountains on Oct. 29, 2002, was owned and operated by Cherry Helicopters Inc. An article yesterday incorrectly reported that it was owned by Pacific Helicopters Tours Inc.
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 fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.Maj. Stacy Bathrick, an Army spokeswoman, said the military contracted the pilot and Hughes 500 helicopter from Pacific Helicopter Tours Inc. to transport equipment from Drum Road near Schofield Barracks to the Kawailoa training area. Army officials said the helicopter had just picked up a load when it crashed at 4:15 p.m.
There was no immediate word on a possible cause.
Honolulu fire rescue officials described the crash site as about five to six miles above Whitmore Village, within a mile of the top of the ridge. When rescue crews with the Honolulu Fire Department's Air-1 helicopter arrived, they said, the pilot was standing there waiting for them.
"Our rescue guys said he did a good job putting that chopper down," said department spokesman Kenison Tejada. "He had been able to land the chopper in a river bed. It was lying on its side when we arrived."
The pilot, in his mid-50s, has more than 30 years of experience, he said.
Tejada said the Fire Department received an emergency cellular phone call about the crash from an environmental team on the mountainside.
"They must have seen him go down," Tejada said.
The pilot had already ferried civilian workers to Drum Road and had returned to the work site at Kawailoa to pick up camping gear, Bathrick said.
Tejada said the pilot seemed fine but was complaining about shoulder pains. Air-1 helicopter crews brought the pilot to Whitmore Village Park, and he was taken by ambulance to Wahiawa General Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.
Bathrick said the pilot was the only person in the helicopter when it went down. An official from Pacific Helicopter Tours on Maui said he had no comment on yesterday's crash.
This is the second Pacific Helicopter crash involving military contract work this year. On May 22, Gary Freeman, 55, was killed when the Bell helicopter he was piloting crashed at the 2,000-foot level on the west side of Kahoolawe.
Freeman was working on the Navy's cleanup of ordnance on Kahoolawe. National Transportation and Safety Board investigators determined that a 41-foot longline cable had struck the aircraft's tail rotor before the crash.
Yesterday's crash is also the second time a Hughes 500 owned by Pacific Helicopters has gone down while working for the Army. On Oct. 29, 2002, a Hughes 500 went down near the Puu Kaaumakua summit, where the 25th Infantry Division's East Range meets Oahu national forest refuge at about the 700-foot elevation in the Koolau mountains.
In that incident, the pilot had dropped off a biologist when the helicopter got caught in some vines and then lost power. The helicopter fell down the mountainside and landed on its side 100 feet below the ridge on a flat precipice. Two other passengers were in the helicopter when it crashed. All three escaped with minor injuries.
