Police confirm pilot, six passengers died in Hawaii helicopter crash; recovery efforts suspended
Authorities in Hawaii have confirmed there were no survivors of a helicopter crash Thursday, and recovery efforts have been suspended.
The Kauai Police Department had identified the pilot of the tour helicopter, which crashed as it was set to tour the island's Na Pali Coast, as well as two of the helicopter's passengers. Pilot Paul Matero, 69, and passengers Amy Gannon, 47, and Jocelyn Gannon, 13, of Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Saturday.
Police confirmed the deaths of the remaining passengers, believed to be a family from Switzerland, in a statement Saturday. The members of the family were identified as 50-year-old woman, 49-year-old man and two girls, 13 and 10 years old, though their names have not yet been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation, police said.
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“We offer our continued condolences and prayers to the families and friends of the victims,” said Kauai police Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce in a Facebook post. “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.”
The remains of six people were found at the site of the crash on Friday, Kauai police wrote in a separate Facebook post.
“We are heartbroken by this tragedy, and we continue to ask the public to consider the sensitive nature of this devastating situation,” Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami said in a statement Friday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of all victims during this extremely difficult time.”
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Officials were informed Thursday evening of a helicopter from Safari Helicopters that had not returned at its scheduled time, Kauai police said. Safari Helicopters owner Preston Myers released a statement to the Associated Press saying Matero had 12 years of experience on Kauai.
“The Safari Helicopter family, along with the broader community, mourn the loss of seven lives that were on Thursday’s sightseeing flight," Myers said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, released a statement on Friday targeting safety concerns. "Tour helicopter and small aircraft operations are not safe, and innocent lives are paying the price," he said. And the Federal Aviation Administration "has not taken the NTSB's concerns seriously."
"Every year thousands of tour helicopter and small aircraft flights fly thousands of flights directly over hundreds of thousands of our households, businesses, cemeteries, parks and other places throughout Hawai’i where we all live, work, play and remember our lost ones," Case said.
"How many more wakeup calls do we need, how much more risk and disruption must we tolerate?”
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hawaii helicopter crash victims: Police confirm no survivors
