FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa

KALAUPAPA (HawaiiNewsNow) – A preliminary FAA report says gusty winds were likely a factor that caused the pilots of a small plane to lose control and crash just offshore of Kalaupapa, Molokai, on Monday.

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Around 11:40 a.m., the small Sling LSA aircraft was on approach to the airport with two people on board. After the crash, the aircraft came to rest upside down in the water. A Maui County Fire Department spokesperson said the two on board were able to exit the aircraft and get to shore on their own.

According to records, the aircraft was registered to the Pacific Flight Academy. Hawaii News Now stopped by the academy’s headquarters along Lagoon Drive on Tuesday, and staff had no comment.

Another pilot, Laurence Balter, was in the area with one of his students on a routine training flight after the crash happened.

“We could see something, but we couldn’t actually see them physically waving. But the pilot that was less than one mile from me, the Civil Air Patrol rescue pilot, was orbiting over them, so I knew to stay away from his orbit,” Balter said.

Balter is the owner and chief flight instructor with the Maui Flight Academy. He said conditions were unusually gusty for that time of day.

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“In the back of my mind, I was thinking, yeah, if it’s gonna happen on a day, it’s a day like today that this, something like this would happen,” he added.

He said wind shear at the remote, single-runway airport can be strong, and pilots should use an Angle of Attack indicator to help with tricky landings there.

“That is probably one of the most challenging airports. There might be some in Colorado and Alaska that are as or more challenging. But for Hawaii, for sure, this is the most challenging airfield we have.

The Pacific Flight Academy had another incident in February 2024, when one of their single-engine Vans RV-12 aircraft made an emergency landing in the grass at Lualualei Naval Base after encountering engine problems. No injuries were reported there.

In this case, MFD said the pilots were taken by helicopter to the Kalaupapa lookout where EMS then took them to Molokai General for further evaluation.

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The investigation with NSTB is ongoing.