3 survive plane crash under Moanalua Freeway

The moment Harley Bone stepped out of his car at the Texaco station, a small plane flew overhead.

Then he heard the impact and saw flames and smoke spewing from the plane, which crashed in a stream under a Moanalua Freeway bridge in Mapunapuna on Friday.

The 27-year-old Kaimuki man, who works for Hawaii Media Inc., ran as fast as he could into the stream and pulled — one by one — the three injured men, also in their 20s, out of the burning plane and onto the stream bank in about three minutes.

“It felt like a movie,” he said.

“The fire was getting bigger and bigger,” and the smoke thicker, making it hard to breathe, Bone said. “One guy had a big gash by his eye. I tried to keep him calm. … They were all bleeding from their mouths.”

The single-engine Piper PA28 airplane crashed shortly before 1:17 p.m., seriously injuring the three men on board. Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for city Emergency Medical Services, said the three men were taken in serious condition to a trauma center but suffered no major injuries.

The Honolulu Fire Department got the call at 1:17 p.m., arrived at 1:22 p.m. and found the aircraft on fire under the freeway bridge. They brought the fire under control at 1:31 p.m. and used absorbent pads and booms to contain the spilled fuel. State airport firefighters also assisted.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane “crashed under unknown circumstances.” FAA investigators were on the scene Friday.

Bone said he was just doing what he would hope anyone else would do for him, and that several others were right behind to help. He credits the pilot with saving all on board.

“Any higher and they would have all been dead because they would have hit that bridge,” he said. “He was able to steer it, obviously. He made a sharp bank into lining up with the canal and crashed down underneath the bridge.”

“Incredible job on the pilot in avoiding injury to the public,” said Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins, noting the proximity to several businesses in the area including Ballard Mortuaries and Kaiser Clinic, as well as the freeway with near rush-hour traffic ahead of a busy holiday weekend.

All lanes of the Moanalua Freeway, above the crash site, remained open.

The plane was manufactured in 1971 and registered to Jahn P. Mueller of Honolulu, according to FAA records. Mueller owns Aircraft Maintenance & Flight School Hawaii. He did not return calls to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Jason Wessel, who is both pilot and a Princess Kaiulani Hotel security officer, was traveling on Nimitz Highway with his friend Justin, who is also a pilot, when they saw the plane dip down.

Justin, who did not want to give his last name, said they saw the plane climbing, then start to sink, and it “nose-porpoised,” then rolled over.

He said once the wing rolls over, “it’s hard to recover.”

The two then followed the plane.

Wessel, who has emergency medical training for his hotel job, was right behind Bone and assisted with the injured men, stabilizing their necks and spines. He said at least one man suffered head injuries. One passenger sat up front and another sat in the back.

He said the three appeared to be Asian, but no one spoke.

A pilot who took off minutes ahead of the Piper and said he was likely on the same flight path said he experienced moderate turbulence in the same area.

The small plane may have been unable to maintain altitude with the weight of three people aboard under turbulent conditions, particularly on the lee side of the mountains, which “causes a washing machine effect,” he said.

The pilot, who asked not to be named, said, “I wish I had reported moderate turbulence. Maybe the pilot would have thought twice about taking off.”

The bridge was undamaged, a Department of Transportation official said.

EMS District Chief Colin Wong said, “In my 31 years in this business, it’s extremely rare to have a plane crash in urban Honolulu. Everybody is fortunate today to come out of it with serious injuries but nothing critical.”

After the rescue was over, Bone, realizing he had risked his life, said, “I called my mom. I told her I love her.”

Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.