Safeway stores to collect food donations

Safeway stores across the state will hold one-day food drives this weekend to benefit island food banks.

The "Help Us End Hunger" holiday food drive will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today at all Oahu Safeway locations and at the following times and locations on other islands:

Maui: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, Safeway Lahaina (Rotary Club of Lahaina); 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Safeway Kahului (Rotary Club of Kahului) and Safeway Kihei (Kihei-Wailea Rotary and Kihei Sunrise Rotary)

Kauai: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Safeway Kapaa

Hawaii: 3 to 5 p.m. today, Safeway Hilo and Safeway Kona

Hawaii Foodbank on Oahu, Hawaii Foodbank-Kauai Branch, Maui Food Bank and the Food Basket on Hawaii island will benefit from the drive.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Tour helicopter shed pieces, witness says

A witness of a tour helicopter crash in East Molokai that killed five people Nov. 10 said pieces of the aircraft fell as it descended, according to the a preliminary report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Another person, one who had the clearest view of the incident, said the Blue Hawaiian helicopter went "straight down" and hit the ground on its side, the report said.

The report said witnesses also noticed rain squalls in the area of the crash site, and that one witness said the crash occurred during heavy rain.

Killed in the crash in mountainous terrain in Pukoo were Toronto visitors Stuart Robertson, 50, and Eva Birgitta Wannersjo, 47; Maui pilot Nathan Cline, 30; and Pittsburgh newlyweds Michael Todd Abel, 25, and Nicole Belivacqua-Abel, 28.

The five were on a one-hour tour from the Kahului Airport to West Maui and Molokai.

Safety board officials said a final report could take 12 to 18 months.

The board’s laboratory was expected to examine a Blue Hawaiian video recorder that was significantly damaged but recovered from the crash site.

Robertson, an executive with a technology management company, had taken the trip to Hawaii with Wannersjo to celebrate his recent promotion.

Abel and his wife, both mechanical engineers at Westinghouse, were on their honeymoon after being wed Nov. 5.

A joint memorial service is scheduled for the Abels on Sunday in McKeesport, Pa., according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.