KOKE‘E — The Kauai Police Department, Kauai Fire Department and state Department of Land and Natural Resources continued recovery efforts Saturday of the helicopter crash that occurred in Nualolo Valley in Kokee State Park.
Due to the additional recovery efforts, the nature of the crash and impact damage, Kauai police can confirm that there are no survivors, a county press release said.
According to preliminary reports from a flight manifest, police believe the pilot to be 69-year-old Paul Matero of Wailua, and two of the passengers to be 47-year-old Amy Gannon and 13-year-old Jocelyn Gannon of Madison, Wisconsin. The four other passengers are believed to be a family from Switzerland — a 50-year-old female, 49-year-old male, 13-year-old female and a 10-year old female. Their names have not yet been released.
Autopsies to positively confirm all identities are still pending.
“We offer our continued condolences and prayers to the families and friends of the victims,” said KPD Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce. “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.”
Recovery efforts were suspended Saturday afternoon. The scene has been turned over for further investigation to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The helicopter crashed Thursday in the late afternoon in rugged mountain terrain near Nualolo, along the regular tour routes that take visitors on daily trips over Waimea Canyon and Napali Coast.
Safari Helicopters contacted the Coast Guard about 6 p.m. Thursday to say the aircraft was about 30 minutes overdue, authorities said.
According to a preliminary report, the pilot said the tour was leaving the Waimea Canyon area about 4:40 p.m., which was the last contact with the helicopter, police said.
Upon notification, a multi-agency search was launched Thursday night with the U.S. Coast Guard responding via air and sea, and personnel from KFD, KPD, DLNR, Hawaii Air National Guard and U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility joining the effort on land.
Search operations continued early Friday morning with air searches conducted by the KFD, KPD, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, Civil Air Patrol, and private helicopter companies. The U.S. Coast Guard also conducted a sea-based search.
Life’s Bridges, a grief-counseling agency, and the Kauai Visitors Bureau are also assisting the victims’ families.
The Eurocopter AS350 has an emergency electronic locator transmitter, but no signals were received. The locator device is designed to activate when an aircraft crashes, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email.
The FAA requires the locators to be able to withstand impact. However, the device can stop working in an extreme crash, Gregor said.
He said the agency is looking at the company’s safety record, but likely won’t have a full report until Monday.
I am sitting here in the interior of British Columbia reading this devastating news…We vacationed in Kauai Christmas 2916 and Paul was our pilot and we all remember him so well because of the trip he gave us..the views, the commentary , the music..but most of all he instilled in us his LOVE for the Island and how he felt this was the best gift he had been given..being able to be up there in those skies viewing this amazing part of the world day after day after day…so saddened today…so saddened