Bodies recovered weeks after medical plane crashed off Hawaii coast, officials say
The bodies and wreckage from a medical plane were recovered from the Pacific Ocean weeks after it crashed off the coast of Hawaii, officials said.
The Hawaii Life Flight crashed around 9:10 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, near Kaupo on Maui, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Three crew members were onboard the C90A, twin-engine, turbine-powered airplane, including the pilot, paramedic and flight nurse, the NTSB said.
The plane had departed from the Kahului Airport on Maui, and it was set for the Waimea-Kohala Airport before it crashed into the water, according to a preliminary report.
Search efforts were called off after three days and 28 searches that covered 4,732 square nautical miles, officials said.
A deepwater search operation began on Jan. 8 near Oahu, the NTSB said.
Searchers covered 54 square miles at depths of 4,500 to 7,500 feet using “side-scan and multi-beam sonar, autonomous underwater vehicles and a remotely operated vehicle,” the federal agency said.
The plane’s wreckage was discovered around 5:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, officials said. It was found about 6,420 feet deep in the ocean and about 1,200 feet south from where the plane’s last data point was recorded, officials said.
A “majority” of the wreckage and the crew members’ bodies were recovered the next day.
The crew members were identified as pilot Brian Treptow, paramedic Gabriel Camacho and flight nurse Courtney Parry, KITV reported.
“The airplane’s cockpit voice recorder, the cockpit image recorder and other electronic components will be transported to the NTSB laboratory in Washington,” officials said.
A full investigation will be completed in 12 to 24 months, the NTSB said.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Bodies recovered weeks after medical plane crashed off Hawaii coast, officials say."
