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Federal investigators on scene at fatal plane crash near Dillingham Airfield
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Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and officials from the Federal Aviation Administration this morning were at the scene of a fatal airplane crash that killed two men Saturday near Dillingham Airfield.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said investigators will be looking into conditions ranging from “human, machine and environment, including weather, geology and other aspects.”
Weiss said the FAA is a party to the NTSB investigation.
“They will assist us in gathering facts, but we’ll do the analysis and finding of probable cause,” he said.
Weiss said NTSB generally takes about two weeks to issue a report with preliminary findings and could take up to a year or two to release its final report.
>> RELATED: 2 dead in Dillingham Airfield plane crash
Honolulu Star-Advertiser is withholding the names of the men, pending notification of next of kin. Emergency Medical Services’ reported that one of the men killed was 78. Police said the other man was 70.
The single-engine Cessna Ector 305A crashed about 200 yards from the Dillingham Airfield, the site of a June skydiving crash that killed all 11 on board. The circa 1979 plane, which was owned by the Honolulu Soaring Club, crashed under unknown circumstances soon after taking off at about 9:15 a.m. and landed in tall grass.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said Saturday that the plane came to rest upside down.
The future of Dillingham Airfield, which was in doubt before the crash, remains uncertain.
The state Department of Transportation, which operates the airfield under a lease with the U.S. Army, last month informed the Army that it intends to cut the lease short and transfer the airfield back to Army control on July 1.
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Several businesses that operate at the airfield, including skydiving and glider companies, fear that returning the airfield to Army Control would bring an end to commercial operations there.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz issued a statement Saturday calling for the closure of Dillingham Airfield. “It has become clear that Dillingham Airfield cannot continue to operate safely,” he said in a statement. “Our obligation is to keep people safe, and the only way to do that is to keep the airfield closed. I urge the FAA and HDOT to shut down the airfield until they can guarantee safety of operations at Dillingham.”
But Sen. Gil Riviere (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) on Saturday called Schatz’s statement on closing the airfield “irresponsible” and said the two pilots who died were “highly qualified aviators, devoted to the love of flight.”
DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said today that Dillingham Airfield is still closed pending the investigation, but there haven’t been any discussions about changing the timetable for the state to exit its lease.
“This incident didn’t impact anything that the state is doing to transfer the lease back by June 30, 2020,” he said.
- By Star-Advertiser Staff
- Today
- Updated 11:34 am
- [IMG alt="CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun their investigation near Dillingham Airfield where two men died in a single-engine Cessna Ector 305A on Saturday."]https://www.staradvertiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_0223-dillingham-01.jpg[/IMG]
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun their investigation near Dillingham Airfield where two men died in a single-engine Cessna Ector 305A on Saturday. - [IMG alt="CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun their investigation near Dillingham Airfield where two men died in a single-engine Cessna Ector 305A on Saturday. The beleaguered airfield was the site where eleven people died in June 2019 in a sky diving plane accident. Pictured is a memorial along the airfield fence for those who died in the 2019 accident."]https://www.staradvertiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/web1_0223-WEB-dillingham-02.jpg[/IMG]
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun their investigation near Dillingham Airfield where two men died in a single-engine Cessna Ector 305A on Saturday. The beleaguered airfield was the site where eleven people died in June 2019 in a sky diving plane accident. Pictured is a memorial along the airfield fence for those who died in the 2019 accident.
1 / 2
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and officials from the Federal Aviation Administration this morning were at the scene of a fatal airplane crash that killed two men Saturday near Dillingham Airfield.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said investigators will be looking into conditions ranging from “human, machine and environment, including weather, geology and other aspects.”
Weiss said the FAA is a party to the NTSB investigation.
“They will assist us in gathering facts, but we’ll do the analysis and finding of probable cause,” he said.
Weiss said NTSB generally takes about two weeks to issue a report with preliminary findings and could take up to a year or two to release its final report.
>> RELATED: 2 dead in Dillingham Airfield plane crash
Honolulu Star-Advertiser is withholding the names of the men, pending notification of next of kin. Emergency Medical Services’ reported that one of the men killed was 78. Police said the other man was 70.
The single-engine Cessna Ector 305A crashed about 200 yards from the Dillingham Airfield, the site of a June skydiving crash that killed all 11 on board. The circa 1979 plane, which was owned by the Honolulu Soaring Club, crashed under unknown circumstances soon after taking off at about 9:15 a.m. and landed in tall grass.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said Saturday that the plane came to rest upside down.
The future of Dillingham Airfield, which was in doubt before the crash, remains uncertain.
The state Department of Transportation, which operates the airfield under a lease with the U.S. Army, last month informed the Army that it intends to cut the lease short and transfer the airfield back to Army control on July 1.

Get the latest news by email
By clicking submit, you agree to Star-Advertiser's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Email:
Sign Up
Several businesses that operate at the airfield, including skydiving and glider companies, fear that returning the airfield to Army Control would bring an end to commercial operations there.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz issued a statement Saturday calling for the closure of Dillingham Airfield. “It has become clear that Dillingham Airfield cannot continue to operate safely,” he said in a statement. “Our obligation is to keep people safe, and the only way to do that is to keep the airfield closed. I urge the FAA and HDOT to shut down the airfield until they can guarantee safety of operations at Dillingham.”
But Sen. Gil Riviere (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) on Saturday called Schatz’s statement on closing the airfield “irresponsible” and said the two pilots who died were “highly qualified aviators, devoted to the love of flight.”
DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said today that Dillingham Airfield is still closed pending the investigation, but there haven’t been any discussions about changing the timetable for the state to exit its lease.
“This incident didn’t impact anything that the state is doing to transfer the lease back by June 30, 2020,” he said.