Three people were killed and two others injured after a sightseeing helicopter crashed near Kalalau Beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, authorities said. The Airborne Aviation aircraft was carrying one pilot and four passengers when it went down Thursday afternoon near the remote beach on the Na Pali Coast.
Kauai Police Chief Rudy Tai identified two of those killed as Margaret Rimmler, 65, and Patrick Haskell, 59, both from Massachusetts. Authorities were still notifying relatives of the third person and did not release details about the survivors’ conditions.
Emergency teams faced a difficult response area. Kalalau Beach, on Kauai’s North Shore, is otherwise accessible only on foot or by boat. Fire Chief Michael Gibson said rescuers arrived to find patients spread across the beach and shoreline, while campers were attempting to resuscitate victims.
The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the crash of the Hughes/MD 500 helicopter. The agency planned to examine the aircraft after it was removed from the water. No cause had been established in the supplied evidence, and the investigation remained at an early stage.
Airborne Aviation operates sightseeing flights over Kauai’s canyons, waterfalls and coastline and advertises a doors-off tour seating as many as four passengers. The company also carries out search-and-rescue, fire-response, utility and construction flights. It suspended tours after the crash, said it was cooperating with investigators and offered condolences to those affected.
The Na Pali Coast’s scenery makes helicopter tours popular, but the terrain presents operational challenges. High seaside cliffs and steep ridges can produce turbulent air and rapidly changing weather. Those general hazards do not establish what caused this crash, which will be determined through the federal investigation.
The deaths added to a long record of fatal aviation accidents in Hawaii’s tour sector. At least 16 people had died in helicopter crashes in the state during the previous seven years. A July 2024 crash on Kauai killed a pilot and two passengers; investigators later found that aircraft broke apart after turbulence caused its main rotor blades to strike the airframe.
In 2019, three people died when a tour helicopter broke apart near Honolulu. Later that year, seven people, including three children, were killed in another crash near the Na Pali Coast amid reported fog, rain and poor visibility. Separate from helicopter tours, a Hawaiian skydiving aircraft crash in 2019 killed 11 people, with investigators attributing that accident to an aggressive takeoff.
Federal regulators have responded to the sector’s risks. In 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration created a process for Hawaiian air-tour companies seeking permission to operate at lower altitudes. It included recommendations covering pilot training, qualifications and aircraft equipment, with the agency reviewing each operator’s safety plan before authorization.
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami acknowledged both the island economy’s connection to sightseeing flights and the cost of repeated fatal accidents. The latest crash now places the focus on recovery of the aircraft and the NTSB’s examination, which will be necessary before officials can explain why the flight ended at Kalalau Beach.
