{"id":622,"date":"2026-05-27T10:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2026-05-27T10:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:05:38","slug":"faa-report-gusty-winds-to-blame-in-small-plane-crash-off-kalaupapa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Where it all started\u2019: Former addict returns to Hawaii for Half Ironman<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

According to records, the aircraft was registered to the Pacific Flight Academy. Hawaii News Now stopped by the academy\u2019s headquarters along Lagoon Drive on Tuesday, and staff had no comment.<\/p>\n

Another pilot, Laurence Balter, was in the area with one of his students on a routine training flight after the crash happened.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe could see something, but we couldn\u2019t 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,\u201d Balter said.<\/p>\n

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

Read more State launches virtual field trips to remote Hawaii seabird sanctuaries<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the back of my mind, I was thinking, yeah, if it\u2019s gonna happen on a day, it\u2019s a day like today that this, something like this would happen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Read more City officials update Waialua residents on Kona Low recovery efforts<\/a><\/p>\n

The investigation with NSTB is ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another pilot explained how difficult it is to land at Kalaupapa’s airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Another pilot explained how difficult it is to land at Kalaupapa's airport.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622\"},\"wordCount\":427,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622\",\"name\":\"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=622#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"Another pilot explained how difficult it is to land at Kalaupapa's airport.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622"},"wordCount":427,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622","name":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:05:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b0fadeb11d47c0aa4c6474f35d65a527.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=622#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FAA report: Gusty winds to blame in small plane crash off Kalaupapa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}