Witness saw missing Hawaii Life Flight plane hit the water
HONOLULU (AP) — A witness saw a medical transport plane that disappeared on a flight between Maui and the Big Island go into a spiraling descent and hit the ocean, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane’s wreckage sank in the Maui Channel with an estimated depth of 6,000 feet (1,830 meters), the report said.
The three people on board — an airline transport pilot, a flight paramedic and a flight nurse — are all presumed dead, the report said.
Last month, the Hawaii Life Flight emergency fixed wing plane went off radar while en route to pick up a patient, a statement from Global Medical Response said. The patient was not on board.
