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Tour Helicopter Crashes in Keaau 09-28-01

HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
PUNA PATROL DISTRICT
OFFICER IRIS M. McGUIRE
PHONE: 966-5835
SEPTEMBER 28, 2001
G-82342

MEDIA RELEASE

A tour helicopter with five persons aboard crashed Friday (September 28, 2001) in a Keaau field in the Puna District.

Officers responding to a 2:31 p.m. call arrived to find that although the helicopter was considered a total loss, neither the female pilot nor her four passengers, two men and two women, was seriously injured.

The Bell 206 helicopter belonging to Tropical Helicopters had taken off from Hilo International Airport and was flying towards the Black Sands area in Kalapana to view the lava flows when it experienced engine failure and crashed.

There was no immediate estimate of damage to the helicopter, and police have classified the incident as an aircraft accident.

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