The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have taken over the investigation of a small single-engine plane crash that took the lives of a prominent Honolulu veterinarian and his 20-year-old son Sunday.

A team of 15 firefighters from Rescue 1 assigned to the Pawaa station worked for two days to recover the bodies from the wreckage, which was precariously perched on a steep ravine near the Lanipo Trail at the 1,900-foot elevation of the Koolau Mountains above Maunalani Heights. The bodies were sent to the Medical Examiner's Office yesterday for identification.

The pilot of the airplane was Dr. Nicholas Palumbo, 81, and his son Timothy, 20, according to a family member. The plane was owned by Palumbo.

The two were on a return trip from Lanai, where the father operated a clinic.

“;The Palumbo family suffered a devastating loss,”; said Julie Moody, the sister of Nicholas Palumbo's widow, Sue. “;The family is clearly in a state of shock and grief.”;

  Friends Speak Fondly of Aircraft Victims

 

Friends and colleagues spoke fondly of him, and his youngest son.

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  Aircraft Crash Kills Father and Son

 

Single engine piper cherokee crashed into a ridge Sunday afternoon, at the top of the Lanipo Trail.

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Timothy Palumbo was the youngest of eight children and a student at Kalani High School, said Moody, his aunt, who spoke to reporters after the bodies were recovered. “;He loved to fly with his dad, which he did every weekend.”;

Air traffic controllers at Honolulu Airport lost radar and radio contact with the plane at about 1:45 p.m. The pilot did not issue a mayday, the FAA said.

Moody said Nicholas Palumbo had been flying for more than 60 years after earning his license when he was 19 and flying combat missions in World War II.

She said her brother-in-law was “;an extremely competent pilot,”; and attributed his death to “;poor visibility”; over the Koolaus on Sunday.

The FAA said the weather was overcast and that it was raining when the plane went down.

Terry Seelig, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman, said besides the adverse weather, which at times placed a cover of clouds over the crash site, the terrain also presented problems.

Firefighters had to rappel out of the Fire Department's Air 2 helicopter, Seelig said, and then hike 200 feet below the Lanipo Trail to the crash site, which is close to Kaau Crater.

Seelig described the terrain in the area as “;steep and unstable.”;

Dusk forced rescue workers to suspend the search Sunday. It was resumed early yesterday, and by 10:47 a.m. the first set of remains was airlifted to Waialae Iki Park near Kalani High School where the Police and Fire departments had established a command center.

Just before noon the rescue crews found the second body outside the fuselage. They were forced to use ropes to lash the fuselage in place to ensure that it would not slide down a near-vertical ravine.

The department's bright yellow Air 1 helicopter brought the second body to the park at 12:15 p.m.

Seelig said the wreckage showed that a fire had taken place, but he was not able to say when and how it started.

The two sets of remains were returned to the Waialae park in separate bright blue tarp bags.

Seven family members, including Moody and Sue Palumbo, were joined by friends who spent the morning in the park, which was closed to the public.

Moody said it was important that the family be present during recovery operations because of “;the nature of the accident”; and because the crash site was inaccessible.

“;We needed closure,”; said Moody.

She said Palumbo was an “;amazing father and husband.”;

He used to fly to Lanai, where he also had a home, almost every week to care for small animals.

Sue Palumbo is also a veterinarian and operates the Cat Clinic on Kapahulu Avenue, Moody said.