State Health Director Loretta Fuddy was killed, but eight other people survived, after a small commuter airplane crashed into the ocean shortly after taking off from Kalaupapa Airport Wednesday afternoon.

Fuddy’s death was confirmed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser through several sources Wednesday night.

The Honolulu-bound Makani Kai Air Cessna Grand Caravan was carrying eight passengers and the pilot when it crashed about a mile off Molokai’s north shore before 3:30 p.m., officials said.

Maui police were attempting to notify next of kin before officially releasing the identity of the person who died, Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said.

The Coast Guard said it received a report at 3:27 p.m. from another aircraft that eight people wearing life vests were spotted in the water, and launched a helicopter, a C-130 plane and a cutter. Maui Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga said the Fire Department deployed its helicopter to help in the rescue.

One person swam to shore, and rescue crews pulled the others from the sea, the Coast Guard said. According to various officials:

» The Coast Guard flew one person directly to an Oahu hospital in an unknown condition.

» Two were brought to an area off Lagoon Drive in Honolulu where ambulances took them to a hospital. Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said paramedics transported a woman, 74, and a man, 39, to a hospital at about 6:30 p.m. from Lagoon Drive. Both were in stable condition.

» Three people and Fuddy’s body were taken to Molokai General Hospital. Molokai General Vice President Randy Lite said three patients with minor injuries were admitted to the hospital where they were to stay overnight until they could continue to travel.

» Another Makani Kai plane brought the pilot and another passenger, Health Department Deputy Director Keith Yamamoto, to Hono­lulu. The pilot drove himself to the Queen’s Medical Center.

Deputy Health Director of Environmental Health Gary Gill picked up a disheveled Yamamoto, who refused treatment, from the Makani Kai lobby on Lagoon Drive around 7 p.m.

Yamamoto was wearing bright blue swim shorts with white flowers and a plain white T-shirt on backward. He was carrying a white blanket when he first arrived in Honolulu from Molokai. He later emerged from the lobby wearing a navy blue jacket and drinking a bottle of water. Gill and Yamamoto both declined to comment.

Richard Schuman, president of Makani Kai, said he didn’t know the breakdown of the passengers but said most appeared to be local residents.

Of the pilot, Schuman said, "He was leaving Kalaupapa and he was coming back to Honolulu, so he definitely had taken off."

He described the pilot as "very experienced," having flown with Aloha Airlines.

Schuman also said the pilot called him from Molokai after the crash, but Schuman did not give details of the conversation.

There was confusion in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Schuman told the news media within the first hour that "initial indications" were that everyone survived.

Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo said early in the evening that Maui health officials relayed news from fire officials that Fuddy and Yamamoto survived. But word of Fuddy’s death soon started to spread in government circles.

Okubo said Fuddy and Yamamoto had gone to Kalaupapa for an annual "meet and greet" with resident Hansen’s disease patients and staff. The Health Department is one of several state and federal agencies that oversees the peninsula.

Schuman, who said he found out about the death through media inquiries hours after the crash, was visibly upset and at a loss for words after learning about the death. He declined to make a statement on behalf of the company and said he might be able to better discuss the matter today.

The company is not sure what led to the crash, he said.

"He’s got a meeting with the FAA and they’re going to try to do the best they can, you know, to figure out what happened," Schuman said of the pilot. "Airplanes just don’t fall out of the sky," he said.

Honolulu-based Makani Kai offers five round-trip flights a day to Molokai from Honolulu, according to its website.

Makani Kai’s flights between Honolulu and Kalaupapa are federally subsidized under a two-year essential air services contract. EAS contracts provide federal subsidies to airlines to encourage them to provide service for rural communities.

The downed nine-seat turboprop aircraft is the same type of plane that made an emergency landing Oct. 21 on Pii­lani Highway in Kihei, Maui. That plane, with two pilots and eight passengers, landed safely just after 7 p.m. after departing from Kahu­lui Airport for Wai­mea on Hawaii island.

Mokulele Airlines CEO Ron Hansen said Wednesday that the National Transportation Safety Board has not made a determination yet on the what caused the aircraft to lose power.

However, Hansen said it would be erroneous to draw any connection between that incident and the one involving Makani Kai.

"There are thousands and thousands of airplanes that are the same around the world and the fact that this happened doesn’t mean anything," he said.

"I have 15 grandchildren, six great-grandkids and I have kids right here on the islands that fly Mokulele every day," he said. "And I fly on Mokulele every day. Do you think I would put my grandkids or great-grandkids on it if I didn’t think it was safe? I think it is one of the safest airplanes in the world. I totally believe in the Caravan or I wouldn’t be in business."