3 die in Kauai
copter crash

The tour helicopter encounters
wind shear and goes down in the
water along the north shore

HAENA, Kauai » Three people were killed and three others survived yesterday when a tour helicopter crashed in a downpour about 600 yards offshore, near the mouth of Limahuli Stream on Kauai's north shore.

The three survivors -- the pilot and a couple believed to be in their 40s or 50s -- were not injured.

Two people who were fatally injured, described only as an unidentified male and female, were pronounced dead at Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea, night nursing supervisor Steve Cull told the Associated Press.

The Star-Bulletin confirmed that a third person, who was pulled from the ocean more than an hour after the accident, also was dead.

County officials, however, would not comment on the condition of the three transported to local hospitals, pending notification of next of kin. They also would not identify any of the victims. There were three men, including the pilot, and three women aboard the helicopter when it went down.

The pilot told authorities the helicopter had encountered wind shear just off Kee Beach Park, according to Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Another helicopter owned by the same company, Heli USA Airways, made a weather-related emergency landing at Hanakapiai Beach on the Na Pali Coast, just a few miles from the crash site and about an hour after the crash, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Brooksann Anderson.

The pilot was able to land safely and no one was hurt in that incident. Passengers were transported via a third Heli USA helicopter to Princeville Airport, she added.

"The pilot of the second helicopter said he would be able to fly it out when the weather got better," Anderson said.

According to county and federal officials, at 2:41 p.m., the pilot of the first A-Star 350 made an emergency distress call before the helicopter hit the ocean near Bobo's surf spot near Haena Point.

Two Kaneohe-based Navy HH-60 helicopters, which were airborne at Pacific Missile Range Facility on a training mission, were on the scene first, said Tom Clements, public affairs officer for facility.

They transported two of the victims to the base on the west side of Kauai, where they were moved via ambulance to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, Clements added.

Cull said two patients were transported to the hospital and were pronounced dead.

The three others, meanwhile, were able to swim and were helped by lifeguards back to shore.

Coast Guard Cutter Kittiwake, their Kalaeloa-based helicopter and another PMRF Navy helicopter joined at the scene to help in the rescue efforts, Clements said.

The sixth person was pulled from the water at least an hour later by an off-duty county firefighter and a water safety officer, county officials said. The victim was not responsive and was transported to Wilcox Hospital.

Heli USA, a Las Vegas-based company, is the only company to fly helicopter tours out of the Princeville Airport. They also fly tours from the Lihue Airport, where most of Kauai's other tour companies reside.

Jeff Power, Heli USA vice president of marketing, said by phone from Las Vegas that he was still gathering information on the crash and could not comment.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation is expected.

Every year for the past three years, there has been a fatal helicopter crash on Kauai. In July 2003, five people died on Mount Waialeale during a Jack Harter helicopter tour. Last September, a Bell Jet Ranger, operated by Bali Hai Helicopter tours, crashed on a mountainside in a remote section of south central Kauai.