Lanai Plane Crash: Three People Killed, Three Injured, Cause Unknown
A Lanai plane crash on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of three people, three others were injured. The small aircraft burst into flames after it crashed following its take off from Hawaii’s Lanai Island.
Maui County spokesman Rod Antone told the AP that the crash occurred at around 9:30 p.m. about a mile away from Lanai Airport in the Miki Basin area.
The small twin-engine Piper PA31 had on board the pilot and five Department of Planning workers. Two of those workers were killed and three were taken to hospital in critical condition.
KITV reported that the Department workers had been in Hawaii attending a planning commission meeting and had chartered a flight from Maui Air to take them back home.
Following the Lanai plane crash the aircraft was located in grasslands a mile southwest of the airport; firefighters on the scene needed to douse some flames from the still burning plane.
The Federal Aviation Authority will now carry out a full investigation into the crash, with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board in order to ascertain the cause.
The Mayor of Maui, Alan Arakawa, said in statement: “Maui County is in mourning after we lost two of our own last night in a plane crash. Our condolences also go out to the family of the pilot who also died in the crash. Ann and I both wish the surviving county workers a speedy recovery.”
It is a complete mystery at this time what caused the Lanai plane crash. Authorities will now be trying to piece together the clues so they can get a better understanding of what caused the disaster.
