With Sunday’s deadly crash of a small plane, Molokai can claim half of Hawaii’s fatal air wrecks over the last six years.
National Transportation Safety Board records show that six of the state’s 12 fatal air crashes occurred in and around Molokai, with four of them happening in just the last 14 months.
While each incident involves its own set of circumstances, veteran Hawaii commercial pilot Rob Moore said the island does present particular challenges for aviators.
Moore, president of the General Aviation Council of Hawaii, said Molokai, for one, does not offer good radar coverage, with pilots flying on their own below 3,000 feet.
In addition, the weather can be a big problem, especially this time of year, he said. Clouds can build up fast in and around the mountainous northeast side of the island.
While the airport at Hoolehua does have a weather reporting system, it is not as sophisticated as ones found elsewhere, Moore said.
“If you get outside of 5 miles from the airport, there is no really good weather information there,” he said.
Moore said he’s been lobbying for better aviation weather reporting on Molokai.
Sunday’s late-morning crash occurred 3 to 4 miles west of the airport. While it wasn’t raining at the time, fire crews reported seeing low cloud ceilings and fog down to the road when they responded to the crash.
Pilot William Vogt, a 78-year-old retired Kahala dentist living on Molokai, and his wife, Lynn Vogt, 74, were identified as the victims.
Federal Aviation Administration inspectors and an NTSB investigator were expected to arrive on the island today.
Moore, a former flight school owner and instructor, said many of Hawaii’s airports are tricky and offer different challenges, especially for inexperienced pilots.
He said Molokai is frequently used for training and is a popular destination for student pilots who need required cross-country flight time. Student pilots from Oahu often fly solo to Molokai, then to Lanai and back to gain the experience.
It’s legal to fly at night and into marginal weather without the benefit of navigational instruments, Moore said, but on Molokai the weather can change for the worse quickly for pilots who are flying without their instruments.
Molokai has been the location of some high-profile air crashes over the years. They include the 1989 crash of a twin-engine Aloha Island Air flight that killed all 20 aboard, including the Molokai High School volleyball team. In 1996, Maui County Councilman Tom Morrow and four others died in a small-plane crash following an election campaign rally.
State Health Director Loretta Fuddy died after a Makani Kai Air flight lost power and crashed into the water off Kalaupapa on Dec. 11, 2013.
Other recent fatal crashes, according to NTSB records, include:
>> On Oct. 16, a Mauna Loa Helicopters training flight crashed off northwest Molokai, killing two.
>> On Nov. 16, 2016, a helicopter piloted by Hawaii attorney Gary Galiher crashed on east Molokai, killing him and Oahu Realtor Keiko Kuroki.
>> On Dec. 30, 2016, a Cessna 172 headed from Molokai to Oahu disappeared from radar and is presumed to have crashed into the ocean about 4 miles east of Ilio Point with three people aboard. Neither the wreckage nor the bodies were located.
>> On Nov. 10, 2011, five people died after a Blue Hawaiian Helicopters tour flight smashed into the mountainous terrain of east Molokai.
All of the recent fatal Molokai crashes — including the high-profile incidents described in this report — occurred in either October, November or December.
