The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii is assisting the family of a 17-year-old male visitor who died along with the pilot when a powered hang glider crashed during a Saturday morning flight lesson at Kaena Point State Park on Oahu’s North Shore.

Jessica Lani Rich, president and CEO of VASH, said the teenager was from Texas but couldn’t immediately provide additional information due to the request of the family.

Honolulu Emergency Medical Services responded to the crash that occurred past Dillingham Airfield at about 8:15 a.m. Saturday. The two males, one thought to be in his 50s to 60s and the other initially described as being in his 20s, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the single-engine Edge XT-912-L, a two-seat ultralight trike, “crashed under unknown circumstances” with two people on board.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, which kept the Kaena Point State Park Reserve Mokuleia section closed on Sunday. Police closed the section of Farrington Highway within the park boundary, not far from the end of the road.

The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates, according to the FAA.

The FAA is expected to provide preliminary accident and incident information, which the agency generally releases on the next business day following an incident.

Neither agency identifies people involved in aircraft accidents. The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said Sunday that it was not ready to release the names of the victims.

Denise Sanders, co-owner of Paradise Air Hawaii Inc., dba Paradise Hang Gliding, at Dillingham Airfield, said the motorized hang glider and pilot involved in the crash were contracted by the company. She would not identify the pilot but said he was the older of the two victims. She said she knew him for more than 20 years and considered him “a dear friend.”

Sanders said that before Saturday’s crash, Paradise Air had a perfect safety record since opening in 2002.

Paradise Air issued a statement to news media on Saturday indicating the two men who died were instructor and student.

According to the Paradise Air website, the company does not offer hang glider rides, only instruction at a cost of $255 for a 30-minute introductory flight lesson.

“The flight instructor was highly experienced and had a perfect safety record working with our company. His aircraft was extremely well maintained,” the statement said. “We are all shocked and, like everyone, wonder what caused this tragedy today. We will work with authorities to try to find the cause. Our hearts are with the family and friends of both him and his flight student.”

According to NTSB data, prior to this latest incident there had been 21 glider incidents in Hawaii from 1983 to now. Three of those incidents were fatal.

In the fatal crash of a Glaser- Dirks DG-400 on Feb. 1, 1987, at 2:30 p.m. at Dillingham, the NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was an in-flight collision with terrain or water, maneuvering error, inadequate altitude, weather turbulence and pilot overconfidence. In that case, the glider turned back toward the ridge and collided with the terrain.

On April 6, 2005, a Schweizer SGS 2-32 crashed at 1 p.m. during a for-hire sightseeing flight in Mokuleia, killing the pilot and causing minor injuries to two passengers. The NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be the pilot’s failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering during a scenic flight, which led to an inadvertent stall/spin and secondary stall/spin encounter. The NTSB said contributing factors were the pilot’s lack of total flight experience, his inadequate flight training and the unfavorable wind conditions.

In the fatal crash of a Glaser- Dirks DG-400 that took place Jan. 16, 2009, in Volcano, the pilot was attempting to set an altitude record. NTSB determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be the pilot’s loss of pitch control and subsequent exceedance of the glider’s airspeed limit for undetermined reasons.

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Star-Advertiser reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this story.