Small Plane Crashes
in Kahului
Tragic
plane crash kills three, closes portion of Hana Highway.
J.M.
Buck
A
private airplane crashed into the Kahului BMW dealership on Hana
Highway last night killing all aboard, destroying several cars
and forcing the closure of a section of Hana Highway.
The twin-engine Cessna smashed into the Kahului BMW dealership
parking lot at approximately 7:10 p.m. and reported to Maui Police
Department at 7:17 p.m. According to MPD detective Glenn Cuomo,
three people including the pilot were in the plane when it went
down. All three were killed when the aircraft exploded.
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An
investigator examines the plane's twisted wreckage
at the crash site. |
A
portion of the Hana Highway between Dairy Road and Papa Place
was closed to traffic while fire engine companies from around
Central and Upcountry Maui battled a conflagration that engulfed
the twisted wreckage of the plane and several new BMWs. After
the blaze was extinguished, hazardous fumes were still issuing
from the crash site.
No one on the ground was injured
.Hundreds
of stunned onlookers were gathered on the mauka side of the Hana
Highway. According to one eyewitness, the pilot of the craft appeared
to be having problems just prior to the crash.
“It was coming towards where I was and it did a really hard
bank turn. I’ve never seen a plane turn that hard,”
said Dan Perez, a 42-year-old Maui Meadows resident who was in
the side parking lot of Wal-Mart when the plane went down.
Perez said the pilot gunned the engines after the radical turning
maneuver, which he described as putting the craft on its side
with the wings completely vertical. “He straightened out
and then wobbled a little bit and then he went over the building
so I lost sight of him at that point. I was wondering, ‘That
guy’s in trouble.’ I was standing there for a few
seconds in awe and then I saw the flash and hear a boom and I
still wasn’t sure. I thought, ‘Did I just see what
I thought I saw?’”
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Charred
vehicles and debris surround the remnants of the
twin-engine Cessna. |
He
said the plane was about 200 feet up, and had originally been
flying in an easterly direction before making the extreme turn-around.
Had not appeared to be headed for the airport.
Perez says he immediately drove to the crash site. “I could
hear the engine going over there, and I saw a tire sticking up,
but the tires weren’t down when he turned. It was surreal.”
Two women were turning left onto Hana Highway in their vehicle
at a stop sign next to the BMW lot when the aircraft slammed into
the ground. Perez relayed what the women told him at that fatal
moment.
|
| Eyewitness
Dan Perez amidst a sea of onlookers. Perez saw
the plane going down. "It was surreal." |
“They said the plane was completely sideways and headed
straight towards them, and both the girls screamed. He did a last
turn, and that’s when he crashed over there,” he said
pointing to the charred ruins in the BMW lot. Perez related that
plane barely cleared the power lines running along Hana Highway
and was coming straight at the women when the pilot turned at
the last second before crashing.
The explosion was heard for miles.
Travis Poolido and Lauren Kapaku were at a relative’s house
above Apana’s Scrap Metal in Waikapu when the plane went
down. “It was loud, really loud,” said Poolido.
Kapaku described hearing two explosions. “Everyone in the
house thought it was gunshots.”
The victims remain unidentified at this juncture. The crash site
will remain secured and authorities will be working throughout
the night. Cuomo says after the local investigation is complete,
the incident will be turned over to federal authorities to further
determine the cause of the crash.
