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The head of Mokulele Airlines praised the efforts of two pilots who made an emergency landing on a Maui highway Monday night with eight people on board.
"We’re very proud of both of them. Both did a phenomenal job," Mokulele’s CEO Ron Hansen said.
"They did exactly what pilots are trained all their life to do in an emergency situation. They did exactly the right thing," Hansen said.
He declined to identify either pilot.
Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday they are investigating the emergency landing.
An FAA official said Mokulele Express Flight 1770, a Cessna Caravan, lost engine power after departing from Kahului Airport for Kamuela on Hawaii island.
The plane, carrying two pilots and eight passengers, landed safely on Piilani Highway in Kihei just after 7 p.m., authorities said.
No one was injured, and there was no damage to the plane or anything on the ground, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.
An NTSB spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the agency is in the preliminary stage of its investigation and hasn’t decided whether to send an investigator to Maui.
The plane landed in the northbound lane of Piilani Highway, facing Kahului. Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga said units from the Wailea Fire Station found the plane intact about 50 yards south of the highway’s Kilohana Drive intersection.
Maui police received a call at about 7 p.m. saying the plane needed to make an emergency landing, said Lt. William Juan, police spokesman. "The pilot conducted a safe landing onto Piilani Highway between Kilohana Drive and Okolani Drive in Wailea," he said in a statement.
Adam Burke, who lives in a nearby condominium, told the Maui News that the highway usually is busy with cars but was vacant when the aircraft landed.
Police closed Piilani Highway between Kilohana and Wailea Ike drives for two hours after the landing.
Mainaga said the plane was moved from the highway to an empty lot near Kilohana Drive and Piilani Highway.
The NTSB spokesman said it will be the responsibility of the airline to move the aircraft to a secure location if a detailed investigation is needed.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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WENDY OSHER / MAUINOW.COM