Pilots in Dillingham Airfield crash died of blunt force injuries

Bill Enoka was serving as instructor pilot, while seasoned pilot Rick Rogers was learning to fly the glider tow plane that crashed Saturday at Dillingham Airfield, said Steve Lowry, fellow pilot and friend of the two.

That would have put Rogers in the front of the cockpit and Enoka in the rear.

The pilot seated at the front of the Cessna 305A died at the scene, while the instructor pilot, seated behind him, died on the way to the hospital, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser photos taken Monday just outside a hangar at the airfield show the yellow-and-blue plane’s front end missing and the rest of the cockpit mangled.

The pair died of multiple blunt force injuries, said the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office, which also confirmed the pilots’ identities as Richard Rogers, 70, of Haleiwa and William Enoka Jr., 78, of Kapaa.

“At about 200 feet after takeoff, witnesses reported the plane yawed right and the engine sound diminished. Then it rolled rapidly left into the grass,” NTSB aviation accident investigator Noreen Price said at a news conference Monday at the airfield.

If the airplane lost power, the NTSB would try to determine whether the engine could have lost power due to mechanical failure or whether the pilots could have cut the engine, which is one of the procedures used in an emergency, said Price.

The airplane is configured with two flight control systems, one for the front seat and one for the rear, Price said.

“They each have control of the stick and also the throttle,” so both have control of the engine, she said. If one is incapacitated, the other can take control.

She said the NTSB will look into possible medical factors and the health and experience of the pilots.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane landed upside down in tall grass.

It was 1,000 feet from the runway, the NTSB said.

A Coast Guard helicopter in the area responded immediately after the 9:20 a.m. crash, she said.

Price, who arrived from Alaska later Saturday, and two FAA investigators completed their on-scene investigation Sunday and are expected to complete today their two-day detailed airframe and engine exams in the hangar.

The NTSB is expected to provide a preliminary report in 10 days. A final report will come in one to two years.

The NTSB has ruled out weather as a possible cause of the accident, Price said. Winds were calm and there was no turbulence at the time of the crash.

The plane had an accident six to eight years ago, but it was a minor one involving a brake problem that is unrelated to this one, Price said.

The Cessna 350A, also known as a Bird Dog plane, is registered as N65070, and had been scheduled to be used to tow a glider Saturday after the training, Price said.

She said the pilots were practicing touch-and-go landings, which allow the pilot to get in more practice time by simply touching down without fully landing, taking off and repeating.

Despite the numerous crashes at the airfield, she said there is nothing to indicate any problem with the runway or airfield.

Lowry, of Acroflight International, which operates out of Dillingham, said he had just finished flying Sunday and was heading home for breakfast when he got the call from a pilot friend and turned around.

“I’m still baffled by what happened,” said the 76-year-old, who knew both pilots for years. “I have the highest regard for their piloting skills. I would be surprised if they find it was pilot error.”

He said Richards had 20,000 hours of flying time but “didn’t have a lot of time in with that make and model. He had been my student at one point in glider training.”

He praised them for their “abilities, citizenship and dedication to the youth programs and am honored to have known them,” Lowry said, adding they are “two great guys in promoting the future of aviation.”

Enoka taught flying to youths in the Civil Air Patrol Glider Program. Rogers did the same with the Boy Scouts Aviation Explorers.

Rogers, an archivist and former Dash 7 pilot for Hawaiian Airlines, documented the history of the airline with items as far back as the 1920s and photographs.

Rogers was known in the early 1980s as “Captain Haleiwa.” The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on Nov. 11, 1983, that Captain Haleiwa had climbed onto the roof of Haleiwa Theater to protest its demolition. He did so while wearing a superhero’s uniform: “a pink cape with a large monogrammed ‘H’ on it … black shorts, ‘raspberry’ (his word) tights and jungle boots … goggles and a World War II aviator’s helmet.”

An accompanying photo showed him along Kamehameha Highway wearing his superhero uniform, smiling and saluting drivers.

“When you say, ‘Captain Haleiwa,’ the whole (of) Hawaii is going to come upside down because he’s really well known,” said Suzy Gromacki of Acroflight International, Lowry’s wife.

State Senate President Ronald Kouchi said of Enoka in a written statement: “Kauai is mourning the loss of Uncle Billy, who was dedicated to keeping the people of Kauai safe through his lifelong work in the Kauai Fire Department, retiring in 1994 as a captain … and as a lieutenant colonel with the Civil Air Patrol.

”He was a consummate professional and his love of flying equaled his love of mentoring our next generation of leaders,” he said.

Star-Advertiser writer Mark Ladao contributed to this report.