Posted on: Thursday, May 11, 2000 Molokai jet crash kills 5

By Curtis Lum Advertiser Staff Writer

At least five people were killed last night when a small private jet crashed and burst into flames on a ridge on the southwest side of Molokai. Molokai police received a report shortly after 8:30 p.m. of an explosion and fire at Kaana, a hill about about four miles west of the Molokai airport.

Maui Assistant Fire Chief Richard Fernandez confirmed last night there were at least five dead. He said the flight manifest listed six aboard the jet. Officials said there did not appear to be any survivors.

Fernandez said a fire rescue crew arrived at the scene and extinguished the blaze.

He said it was a Sabreliner, a popular corporate jet similar to a Learjet.

He said the plane had taken off from Honolulu and was on its approach for a landing at the Molokai airport. Fernandez said the crash site was in a hilly area in the approach path to the airport.

The names and ages of the victims were not available last night, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash.

An FAA official in Honolulu, who would not give his name, said, "It couldnt be weather-related because the weather was great."

It was the states worst air disaster since a tour plane crashed on the slopes of Mauna Loa last September, killing 10 people. That was the deadliest air crash in Hawaii in a decade

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 11, 2000