WAILUA, Kauai >> Police are planning to work with National Transportation Safety Board officials, expected to arrive in Hawaii today, to investigate the fatal crash of a tour helicopter on Kauai’s famed Na Pali Coast.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said that a team of four investigators from Alaska and Washington, D.C., will handle the probe, but that an investigation has already begun with the scouring of Federal Aviation Administration records and other research. He added that accessibility will be an issue because the crash site is on “challenging cliffs in a rainforest environment.”
>> PHOTOS: Family mourns loss of Kauai helicopter pilot
>> PHOTOS: Wreckage found of Hawaii tour helicopter carrying 7
On Saturday, the Kauai Fire Department recovered more remains and some personal items from the site where the Safari Helicopter Tour aircraft crashed on land in a remote area of Kokee near Milolii Ridge Road and the Nualolo Trail.
Remains of six occupants of the Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter were recovered Friday afternoon, and on Saturday Kauai Police Department Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce said it could not be determined whether the seventh person’s remains had been recovered.
Also Saturday, police confirmed no one survived the crash. Authorities said there were two sets of families on the flight. Police identified two of the passengers Saturday as Amy Gannon, 47, and Jocelyn Gannon, 13, of Madison, Wis. Police also identified the pilot as Paul Matero, 69, of Wailua.
Police said the other four passengers are believed to be a family from Switzerland — a 50-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and two girls, ages 13 and 10. Police did not release their names.
Ponce offered his condolences and prayers to the families and friends of the victims.
“As we continue to search for and recover evidence pertinent to this tragic helicopter crash, we hope to bring some sense of closure to the loved ones of the victims,” Ponce said in a statement.
Kauai Fire Department Battalion Chief Solomon Kanoho said bad weather delayed firefighters’ search Saturday morning, but they were able to reach the site about 10 a.m. and searched for the remaining person as well as for evidence for Kauai police and the NTSB.
He said recovery efforts were suspended Saturday afternoon because of bad weather.
While expressing sympathy for the victims’ families, Kanoho described the crash site as about 1.3 miles inland, with the helicopter apparently striking a cliff face before falling between 50 and 100 yards. The FAA said the wreckage is about 13 miles north of Hanapepe.
Kanoho said Kauai firefighters were using a National Aeronautics and Space Administration site as a landing zone and also received assistance from state Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel and Kauai police on Saturday. Police said firefighters were helping to recover evidence because of the inaccessibility of the site.
The helicopter had taken off from Lihue Thursday and its last known communication was at 4:40 p.m., when the pilot relayed the tour was leaving the Waimea Canyon area.
The owner of the helicopter contacted the Coast Guard at 6:06 p.m., saying the aircraft was due back in Lihue at 5:21 p.m.
The aircraft was equipped with an electronic locator, but no signals were received. After an overnight search by the Coast Guard and other agencies, the wreckage was found Friday morning.
Safari Helicopter said in a statement Saturday that its prayers go out to those affected and that it was fully cooperating with the NTSB and the FAA to determine the cause of Thursday’s crash. The company is a family-owned and -operated business that opened in 1987.
“We mourn with the family members of those who were lost in the tragic accident,” the company said. “Among those lost, is our Chief Pilot, Paul Matero. Paul was a seasoned member of our team with 12 years of experience on Kauai.”
Matero’s wife, Donna Dublin, said in an interview that she suspected the crash had to do with a sudden change in the weather.
She said Mateo had been flying helicopters for more than 40 years and was “all about safety.” Flying helicopters was in his blood because his father was also a helicopter mechanic and pilot, she said. According to the FAA, Matero was a certified commercial pilot and airframe and power plant mechanic.
Dublin said Matero had experience flying for a variety of missions, including helping to tag animals in Wyoming and Montana, fighting forest fires, eradicating marijuana, and piloting a television station’s helicopter in Sacramento, Calif.
The couple, married 28 years, met while working for a Christmas tree operation in Oregon. Matero was flying a helicopter to bring cut trees to the processing area.
Matero later worked as a mechanic for Skywest Airlines, and the couple came to Hawaii about 13 years ago because of layoffs at Skywest.
She said Matero, who read a lot, loved Kauai, and studied the island’s history and culture after arriving, often sharing his knowledge with others.
“He was not a cowboy at all,” she said. She said he was safety-oriented and flew the Na Pali tour about four days a week. She said Preston Myers, the owner of Safari Helicopter, told her that he hired Matero because of his high priority on safety.
Matero was always watching the weather at home and at work and would warn the customers about taking the tour if there was the possibility of windy or rain conditions because he didn’t want his customers to feel sick, his wife said.
“He wanted them to enjoy their ride,” she said.
Dublin said Matero was planning to retire next year and the couple had been fixing up their house for sale before retiring to Oregon in March or April.
Matero’s nephew, Aaron Redding, of Maui, said Saturday was busy with numerous phone calls from well-wishers, which helped to keep him and his aunt occupied from the loss of his uncle.
“The love is just, it’s insane,” he said. “It’s an overflow of love.”
Matero is survived by his four adult children, who live on the mainland, and six grandchildren.
The Associated Press reported the Wisconsin passengers were mother and daughter. Amy Gannon had co-founded a nonprofit company to help businesswomen, and Jocelyn was in the eighth grade. Gannon’s husband and son were not on the flight and were still in Hawaii, AP reported.
Thursday’s crash was the first fatal crash involving Safari Helicopter Tours, according to the NTSB’s aviation accident database. The only other incident involving the company in the database was on Feb. 1, 2001. In that incident, a Eurocopter AS-350-B2 helicopter inadvertently lifted off while the pilot was doing a maintenance test. The tail rotor hit the ground and the aircraft rolled over.
The pilot, who was not identified, sustained minor injuries. The NTSB blamed the incident on faulty manufacturing design.
