Fatal chopper crash leads to homicide investigation

HONOLULU – Prosecutors on Kauai have opened a homicide investigation into a tour helicopter crash last September that claimed the lives of three people, including two from Maine, television station KITV reported Thursday night.

Catherine Baron and Mary H. Soucy, both of Portland, Maine, drowned when the helicopter went down.

“The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] has asked us to investigate the matter involving possible homicides,” Kauai County Deputy Prosecutor Richard Minatoya told KITV. “Their request is based on concerns for air safety involving helicopter tours on the island.”

The FAA was ready to be of assistance, a spokesman said.

“If they chose to prosecute, then we would very likely be able to make available evidence that we collected in our investigation,” FAA spokesman Donn Walker said from Los Angeles.

Glen Lampton, the pilot of the Heli USA Airways helicopter that crashed Sept. 23, told investigators that just before the accident, he suddenly saw another helicopter coming straight for him, made a left turn to avoid an accident and encountered heavy rain, the National Transportation Safety Board has reported.

Lampton’s helicopter descended rapidly and crashed into the ocean near Haena Point, along Kauai’s North shore, leaving three of his passengers dead. He and two other passengers survived.

“We’ve been interviewing other pilots and looking into the weather situation – obviously, involving the decision by the pilot to fly into the weather,” Minatoya said.

The pilot of the other helicopter, Ian Bagano, told investigators he was several miles away at the time of the accident.

Bagano, who flies for Inter-Island Helicopters, and two other tour helicopter pilots said they also encountered rain showers, but made controlled descents to get out of the foul weather.

Inter-Island owner Ken D’Attilio has blamed the accident on Lampton’s lack of experience in flying helicopters around Kauai.

Although Lampton has piloted helicopters for about 16 years, at the time of the crash, he had worked for Heli USA for only six or seven weeks.

The two surviving passengers, Karen and Bill Thorson of Beloit, Wis., have said they saw another helicopter at the time, but it was so far away they didn’t believe Lampton had to maneuver to avoid hitting it.

Karen Thorson’s father, Laverne Clifton, died of cardiac arrest caused by near drowning.