...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM HST FRIDAY...
* WHAT...East winds up to 25 kt and seas up to 10 feet.
* WHERE...Oahu Windward Waters, Oahu Leeward Waters, Kaiwi
Channel, Maui County Windward Waters, Maui County Leeward
Waters, Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel, Big Island Leeward
Waters and Big Island Southeast Waters.
* WHEN...Until 6 AM HST Friday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions.
&&
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii.
HANA, Hawaii (KITV4) -- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report of the Hawaii Life Flight medical airbus that went down off of Maui waters three weeks ago.
The aircraft, a Twin Propeller King Air, was spotted around 16 miles south of Hana by an airplane in flight at about 9:15 p.m. on Dec. 15 when it went down.
According to the NTSB report, the Honolulu Air Traffic Control Center was in communication with pilot Brian Treptow and the flight started off normal. At around 9:12, air traffic control instructed Treptow to “fly direct to Tammi” – the fixed approach to Waimea airport – and Treptow acknowledged.
Read the full preliminary report at the bottom of this article.
A minute later, air traffic contacted Treptow again, asking him to verify that he was on the fixed approach route to which Treptow replied “Uhh, 13GZ is off navigation here… we’re gonna… we’re gonna give it a try.”
Air traffic acknowledged Treptow’s statement and instructed him to turn right to a 170° heading and maintain his altitude, to which Treptow responded, “Hang on.” That was the last communication.
A pilot in the area said he saw the Life Flight plane “well above and to the north of his northwesterly flight path” just before it entered into a spiral and crashed into the ocean.
"Like a downward spiral," he described. "I was like what's going on I've never seen an aircraft go just straight down. I saw him kind of hit the water and then his navigation lights kind of disappeared in the darkness."
The search for the aircraft was suspended on Dec. 19, as a Kona Low storm system was forecast to hit the state.
Treptow, paramedic Gabriel Camacho, and flight nurse Courtney Parry are all believed to have died in the crash.
The airplane sank in an area known as the Maui Channel, with an estimated depth of about 6,000 feet. Deep water search and recovery efforts are still ongoing.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii.