Plane crash kills former Kahala dentist and his wife

A popular Kahala dentist, retired and living on Molokai, and his wife, a longtime schoolteacher, have been identified as the victims that died in the fiery crash of a small plane on Molokai on Sunday.

The family of William F. Vogt, 78, and Lynn Vogt, 74, notified the office of his former dental partner, Dr. Derek Takai, that the two were killed in the crash, said Toni Mata, who worked in William Vogt’s front office for six years. Takai bought the practice from Vogt after he retired in the mid-2000s, Mata said.

“I’ve been telling people basically that he was a very nice man and his wife was a very kind woman,” she said. “He cared a lot about his patients and his patients loved and respected him as a dentist.”

Lynn Vogt also is fondly remembered for the more than three decades that she spent as a Kamehameha Schools teacher. She was honored for 25 years of service in the winter 2000 edition of Kamehameha Schools’ I Mua Magazine.

“He was a great dentist. The smartest, most ethical, caring person that I knew. They were a very, very close couple,” said Suzanne Tswei, who was one of William Vogt’s patients for nearly three decades. “It was wonderful to see them together. They were so cordial with each other — it was really sweet.”

Honolulu attorney Rick Fried, who knew William Vogt for more than 40 years, said the pair were “extraordinarily happy” and enjoyed traveling together. William Vogt was an avid pilot who loved to fly his Cessna 206, Fried said.

“He really enjoyed owning his own aircraft, which was his main source of travel back and forth between Oahu and Molokai,” said Fried, who was one of Vogt’s dental patients and a longtime tennis partner. “He was a very methodical and careful person.”

William Vogt’s propeller plane crashed Sunday while en route to Molokai Airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the crash occurred “under unknown circumstances.”

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor released the plane’s tail number as N732DF on Monday.

According to the FAA’s aircraft registry, the circa-1978 plane belonged to Vogt, who was issued a private pilot’s certificate in 2010. According to FAA records, Vogt was required to wear corrective lenses for near and distant vision as a condition of his FAA certification.

Gregor said FAA inspectors will travel to Molokai today to begin investigating the crash. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the NTSB investigator has been delayed due to weather, but it’s possible that he also will arrive today. William Vogt had filed a flight plan, he said.

Maui Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said firefighters and police discovered the bodies Sunday afternoon after receiving an alert from Molokai Air Traffic Control at 11:15 a.m. saying they had lost commu­- nication with an aircraft that was traveling about 3 to 4 miles west of the airfield. The couple lived at 3226 Kalua Koi Road in Maunaloa.

At 12:12 p.m. Sunday, firefighters located wreckage of the small private aircraft in a remote location.

“We were able to locate the wreckage in a difficult-to-reach brush area, 3 to 4 miles west of the airport, just east of the FAA navigational aid — the land-based radio beacon that pilots use to navigate between the islands,” Taomoto said.

While it was not raining at the time, fire crews reported seeing low clouds and fog down to the road when they responded to the crash. Taomoto said muddy roads made it necessary for fire crews to use small all-terrain vehicles to reach the site, which was still smoldering from the crash.

“In my view, (Vogt) wouldn’t have done something foolish,” Fried said. “If the weather were as bad as it sounds, I’m guessing that it came in suddenly and was not something that he was able to plan for. I recall Sunday, even on the east end of Oahu occasional squalls were coming through.”

Taomoto said firefighters and police removed the bodies from the aircraft and would secure the scene until FAA and NTSB investigators arrive.