CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Workers and friends gathered at a ceremony at Keehi Lagoon for Hawaii Air Ambulance pilot Ronald Laubacher, who died in a crash on the Big Island on Jan. 31. Above, his mother Ruth greeted staff workers.
Pilot saved baby
before fatal trip
Kauai resident Leah Sanchez went into labor three months before her son was due. Her doctors told her that no hospital on the island was equipped to handle such a premature baby.
CORRECTION
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2003>> The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report during the weekend concerning the Jan. 31 crash of a Hawaii Air Ambulance plane on the Big Island. A story on Page A14 in yesterday's early edition incorrectly said the Federal Aviation Administration released the report.
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.Hawaii Air Ambulance pilot Ronald Laubacher flew his Cessna 414A Chancellor to Kauai, picked up Sanchez and her husband, James, and brought them to Honolulu. Sanchez's son was born that day, Jan. 30, at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, where he still receives intensive medical care.
"I don't know what would have happened to my son if Ron hadn't been there for us," Sanchez said yesterday.
Sanchez, 30, and her son were the last patients flown by Laubacher.
The next day, Laubacher's plane crashed in stormy weather on the Big Island. It was found in a thick forest of eucalyptus and ironwood trees about 25 miles northwest of Hilo.
Laubacher, 38, died in the crash along with Mandy Shiraki, 47, an Emergency Medical Services district supervisor and Joseph Daniel Villiaros, 39, a Honolulu firefighter. The team had been headed to Hilo Medical Center to airlift a 9-year-old boy.
Yesterday, Sanchez, who named her newborn son James Ronald after Laubacher, was a guest at a memorial service by Hawaii Air Ambulance employees near the company's headquarters at Honolulu Airport. About a dozen Honolulu firefighters, each with a black ribbon over their brass shields, also attended.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Above, a memorial table displayed his photo and a plate of his favorite bento lunch.
More than 30 employees, including seven pilots, stood on the windy shore of Keehi Lagoon in the noon sun with planes and choppers flying overhead as they said farewell to Laubacher.
Andrew Kluger, chairman and chief executive of the company, said the Laubacher family held a small private funeral. He said Laubacher's co-workers "needed to have their own farewell."
Each co-worker, carrying a lei or long-stemmed white carnations, hugged or spoke with Laubacher's mother, Ruth, before walking toward the shore's grassy edge and a group of firefighters.
Four firefighters formed a chain from the grass down the rocks to the water's edge. The flowers passed from hand to hand and were dropped onto the waves.
Then the firefighters each handed down leis and white carnations of their own.
Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi said the firefighters were there "to say farewell to the pilot."
In a soft voice that was carried away on the wind, Leonardi looked at Laubacher's mother as he spoke: "They all did the job they loved to do and they were trained to do. Their life was saving people's lives."
The Federal Aviation Administration released a preliminary report on the crash over the weekend. The report indicated the plane, which Laubacher was flying by sight rather than instrument, did not have mechanical problems.
Laubacher's mother, addressing her son's co-workers, told them "he loved each and every one of you."
Fellow pilot Koichiro Kono, a Buddhist priest from Japan, performed a traditional Buddhist prayer ceremony to ensure Laubacher's spirit journeys safely to heaven.
On the altar along with a prayer book and elegant vessels there was something to feed Laubacher on his journey: a plate of his favorite chicken teriyaki bento lunch and a can of Coke.
"Ron once told me that if he ever went, he wanted a fellow pilot, if one was a priest or minister or something, to say his farewell," Kluger said.
James Sanchez said yesterday that he named his son after Laubacher "not just because he saved our baby, but because of all the hundreds of lives he touched."
Sanchez said, "there are some people you know a lifetime and they have little impact on you. And there are some special people like Ron, that you meet through circumstance, who you'll never forget."
