Plane Crashes in Hawaii; All 20 Aboard Die

A twin-engine commuter plane reported missing on a 35-minute flight plunged into a rugged coastal valley on the island of Molokai and burned, killing all 20 people aboard.

Searchers recovered the bodies of the victims, including eight members of Molokai High School’s volleyball teams, the coach of the girls’ team and the school’s athletic director, on Sunday afternoon. Searchers rappelled from helicopters to retrieve the bodies from the debris of the Aloha IslandAir DH6 Twin Otter at the 700-foot level of Halawa Valley on Molokai’s northeastern coast. Coast Guard teams from two cutters reached the shoreline in a boat and hiked to the crash site.

Maui Deputy Fire Chief Leroy Hokoana said in a telephone interview: “That thing was bad. There is debris spread over about 300 feet.”

The plane had been reported missing when it failed to reach Molokai Airport after leaving Kahului Airport on Saturday evening for a scheduled 35-minute flight, said Don Early, air traffic manager for the Federal Aviation Administration at Honolulu Airport.

The fire in the wreckage had burned out by the time the wreck was sighted early Sunday, Maui Fire Battalion Chief Steven Molina said.

Two FAA investigators from Honolulu were sent to Molokai to begin investigating the cause of the crash, said Peter Beckner, manager of the FAA’s Flight Standards Office here.

Additionally, a six-member investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board left Washington on Sunday for Hawaii, said board spokesman Michael Benson. The team, headed by acting NTSB Chairman James Colstad, was to arrive in Molokai today.

The plane, owned by a subsidiary of Aloha Airlines Inc., carried 18 passengers and a crew of two, Early said. The crew members were identified as Captain Bruce Pollard and First Officer Phil Helfrich.

The passengers included Peter and Elizabeth Wiley of Philadelphia, John and Christina Craig of Houston and Hank Gabriel of Maui.

The others were all from Molokai and were identified as Leilani Ahina, Jared Elia, Lea Dunnam, Colette Kekalia, Natalie Helm, John Ino, Nancy Pierce, Nancine Mahiai, Aloma Spencer, Rodrigo Senica, Jovencio Ruiz, Odetta Rapanot and Testa Ku.

Ages were not immediately available.

The airline did not immediately identify the students. Molokai High School Principal Clifford Horita identified Ino as the high school’s athletic director and Rapanot as the girls’ volleyball coach.

There was no distress call from the crew and no signals were detected from an emergency locator transmitter aboard the plane, said Sgt. William Bowker of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center.

The crash is similar to the June 11 crash of a Scenic Air Tours Hawaii twin-engine Beechcraft that slammed into a 1,800-foot high valley wall on Hawaii Island, killing 11 people.

Horita said school would be held as usual today, but he planned to arrange a special morning assembly to help students cope.

“We’ll try to help them learn how to handle this, first as a group and then for those who need it, individually,” he said.