Mokulele pilots honored for quick action in Hana plane crash

Mokulele Airlines Capt. Eric Memmott and First Officer Nate McBride had just finished seeing off their passengers at Maui’s Hana Airport in January when they looked up and saw a small private plane crash in the jungle near the airstrip.

The pair sprang into action.

“It was instinct,” McBride remembered Monday. “We grabbed what we had in our plane — a first-aid kit and fire extinguisher — and we ran to the crash site.”

Their efforts resulted in a relatively quick rescue that helped both pilot and passenger survive the potentially tragic event.

For their actions, the men were honored Monday by the airline, the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Senate in a ceremony at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

“We’re so proud of these guys,” said Keith Sisson, chief marketing officer of Southern Airways, the company that owns Mokulele Airlines.

During Monday’s Terminal 3 ceremony, Memmott, who was there via videoconference, and McBride, who was there in person, received a letter of commendation from the FAA and a Senate proclamation presented by state Sen. Lynn DeCoite of Molokai.

On the morning of Jan. 15, when the single-engine Flight Design CTLS light sport plane went down after climbing about 75 feet, the pair immediately enlisted the help of pilots working for Skydive Hana before moving as fast as they could through the thick tangle of brush and trees and toward the shouts they could hear in the distance.

While the Mokulele crew trekked through the dense forest, the Skydive Hana crew gave an aerial report of the crash site to the ground. When they reached the aircraft, Memmott and McBride saw that the sole passenger had made his way out of the craft while the pilot, though alive, was pinned inside.

Both fuel tanks had ruptured, and fuel was pouring onto the ground. The electrical system was a mangled ball of metal, and they desperately searched for the circuit breaker to prevent the plane from potentially bursting into flames.

After finally turning off the electrical system, the crew waited with the pilot for fire and rescue units to respond, while guiding them to the scene. The injured men, ages 61 and 70, were taken away for medical treatment.

After it was all over, Memmott and McBride, who was recently promoted to pilot, got back to their Mokulele aircraft in time to welcome their new passengers before flying them to Kahului in time to make their connecting flights.

“This is something pilots do,” added Richard Schuman, Mokulele’s executive vice president. “We want to watch out and take care of each other, and take care of our passengers and community, so we can all fly safely.”