2 Rescued After Plane Crashes off Kalaupapa

By The Molokai Dispatch Staff

A small airplane crashed in waters off Kaulaupapa on the morning of Memorial Day with two men onboard. The survivors, both from Oʻahu, apparently suffered minor injuries and were taken to Molokai General Hospital.

“Firefighters responded to the report of an aircraft that had gone down approximately two miles west of Kalaupapa Airport,” Maui County Department of Fire and Public Safety said in a press release May 25.

The airplane was brought down as it approached Kalaupapa Airport. County oficials said the two occupants of the single-engine plane were able to exit the aircraft and make their way to the shore on their own. TV stations around the state showed footage of the plane upside down near a shoreline on Kalaupapa’s west side. 

The pilot and the passenger of the two-seat Sling 2 aircraft, a South African-made two-seater light aircraft, made their way to the National Park Service facilities at Kalaupapa. They were then transported aboard Air 50 with Rescue 10 personnel to the Kalaupapa lookout, where they were checked out by EMS and transported to Molokai General Hospital for further evaluation, according to county officials. 

News stations in Hawaiʻi reported the aircraft is registered as owned by the Pacific Flight Academy LLC, which operates on Lagoon Drive on Oʻahu.