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Dillingham Airfield to reopen today, following fatal plane crash

LEILA FUJIMORI / LFUJIMORI@STARADVERTISER.COM

Floral and memorial tributes Sunday were seen on the fence line at Dillingham Air Field in Mokuleia. The airfield will reopen today, state transportation officials said today.

State transportation officials said Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia will reopen at 7 a.m. today.

The airfield has been closed since Friday evening, when a Beechcraft King Air 65-A90 operated by a skydiving company, Oahu Parachute Center, apparently flipped and burned shortly after takeoff, killing all 11 people on board.

The victims included six employees of the Oahu Parachute Center, three visitors and two local skydivers.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the accident continues, according to the state, which operates Dillingham Airfield under a lease from the U.S. Army.

NTSB investigators notified the state of the plane wreckage’s release to the insurance company. The wreckage will be transported to a separate location at the airfield, where it will be monitored by security until a recovery team picks it up sometime this week.

“We are available to investigators and standby to assist in any way possible as they work to determine what caused the incident,” said state Department of Transportation director Jade Butay in a news release. “We extend our heartfelt thoughts and condolences to the families and friends of those impacted by the tragedy.”

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