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1 injured in medical copter’s hard landing
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the hard landing of a medical transport helicopter at Kona Airport shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, injuring one person, federal officials reported.
The helicopter landed at about 5:12 p.m., said Caroline Sluyter, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
One of the two people aboard the Eurocopter AS350B3 was transported to a hospital with back pain, and the other was uninjured, the FAA said.
The helicopter was substantially damaged, the FAA said.
According to the FAA, the helicopter is registered to Eagle Air Med, based in Utah.
2 suspects charged in Kauai man’s death
Two California men were charged with murder in connection with the death of a 29-year-old Lihue man.
Joseph Mataele, 22, and Sosaia Havili, 24, were charged Monday by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office in connection with Marcus Brown’s death. Mataele and Havili, both of San Mateo, were to appear at the Hayward Hall of Justice today to enter a plea.
Brown’s body was found by a transient in the area of B and Fourth streets in the early morning hours of Sept. 5. A friend from Hawaii reported Brown missing on Sept. 9, according to a news release issued by the Hayward Police Department.
Investigators declined to disclose any information about evidence linking the two men to Brown’s death, due to the ongoing investigation. Police also declined to describe the relationship between the two men and Brown.
California woman hurt in paddleboard fall
A 35-year-old tourist from California was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in stable condition Monday after she fell and hit her head on her paddleboard at Ukumehame Beach Park in east Maui.
Maui fire officials said the Westlake, Calif., woman was being towed on a paddleboard by her boyfriend at 3:53 p.m. when she fell and lost consciousness. Her boyfriend pulled her onto the board, where she regained consciousness.
Other stand-up paddlers helped him get her to shore. Lifeguards administered first aid until Lahaina firefighters and paramedics took over.
Moped crash victim was Wailuku man
The man who died Monday after the moped he was operating was struck from behind by a motorcycle in Wailuku was identified as Earle Maielua, 47, of Wailuku.
According to police, the 2004 Suzuki GSXR motorcycle was traveling west on Waiehu Beach Road at 3:53 p.m. when it struck the back of the moped at the intersection with Linekona Place. The motorcycle continued west and sideswiped the left side of a car parked along the shoulder of the road.
Maielua was pronounced dead at the scene. The motorcycle operator, identified as a 25-year-old man from Wailuku, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Neither man was wearing a helmet. Speed may have been a factor in the crash, police said.
Maielua’s death was Maui County’s 12th motor vehicle fatality this year, compared with 20 at the same time last year.