Air ambulance
pilot had alcohol
problems in ’90sThe FAA suspended his
certificates after he failed to
report two auto accidents in time
The pilot of a Hawaii Air Ambulance plane that crashed Saturday on the Big Island had two auto accidents during the 1990s involving drugs or alcohol and also had a minor plane accident on the mainland.
The Federal Aviation Administration suspended Ronald Laubacher's pilot certificate for 180 days between 1996 and 1999, according to FAA records.
The FAA also revoked his medical certificate, which all pilots are required to have.
Hawaii Air Ambulance said Laubacher was an experienced pilot with 8,000 hours of flight time and had not had any accidents or other problems while employed with the company.
The Cessna 4141A he piloted was found Monday in a heavily forested area 22 miles northwest of Hilo at the 3,600-foot elevation of Mauna Kea.
Laubacher died in the crash, along with paramedics Mandy Shiraki and Daniel Villiaros.
The National Transportation Safety Bureau is investigating the crash.
FAA records also show Laubacher failed to report the auto accidents within the required 60 days and also made an incorrect statement to the FAA, which it relied upon to make a decision on whether to suspend or revoke his certificate.
On Sept. 23, 1993, while working for Adventure Airlines, Laubacher was piloting a Cessna 402A that landed in Las Vegas with its wheels up. FAA records say the left main gear was unsafe and does not indicate whether any pilot error was involved.
Darcie Scharfenstein, a spokeswoman for Hawaii Air Ambulance, said Laubacher has been FAA-licensed since the company hired him four years ago and was subject to mandatory drug and alcohol testing prior to being hired.
Laubacher also was subject to unannounced random testing, she said.
Some pilots and aviation experts have questioned Laubacher's flying by visual flight rules rather than by instrument on Saturday during poor weather conditions and at night.
The plane's last radar signal was received near Waimea Airport, which indicated the pilot had chosen an inland route rather than the usual coastal route taken by Hawaii Air Ambulance pilots, possibly to avoid heavy rain and wind along the coastline.
FAA spokesman Donn Walker said Laubacher had filed a visual flight plan but was certified to fly using instruments.
Hawaii Air Ambulance said the plane was equipped with the proper navigational instruments.
Walker said that generally a pilot cannot begin a flight using visual flight rules unless certain minimum weather conditions are met.
"You have to have at least three miles of visibility for most airspace, and most of the time you have to be a certain distance from clouds; you must be clear of clouds," he said.
William Schauer, an aviation consultant, said if a pilot encounters bad weather such as thick clouds, he should not fly without the use of instruments.
However, other experts, like Hank Bruckner, say it is difficult to generalize on weather conditions.
"None of us will ever know what he was facing," he said.