NO INJURIES IN HELICOPTER HARD-LANDING ABOVE SACRED FALLS

NO INJURIES IN HELICOPTER HARD-LANDING ABOVE SACRED FALLS

(Honolulu) – A helicopter under contract to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) made a hard landing this morning in a remote area of the Kaluanui Natural Area Reserve above Sacred Falls on O‘ahu. The pilot and all three passengers were not injured and are currently hiking out of the area. Both the Honolulu Fire Department and officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement are responding, though none of the people involved is requiring medical attention.

The chopper was ferrying one DOFAW employee and two representatives from Pacific Rim Conservation, a non-profit organization that conducts field work on behalf of DOFAW, into the NAR to deploy seabird song meters, which record bird sounds for population studies.

Marigold Zoll DOFAW O‘ahu Branch Manager said, “We follow a stringent set of safety protocols and one of these protocols is known as “flight-following,” which resulted in the incident being reported very quickly. We are thankful everyone walked away from this without injury.”