A state mission to remove rubbish from a remote Westside valley was partially sidelined yesterday afternoon when one of two helicopters hauling the trash out made a crash-landing at nearby Polihale State Park.

There were no injuries, but the impact ripped the rear assembly off the Inter-Island Air Helicopters Hughes 500 aircraft.

The red Air 1 doorless chopper was using a longline and cargo net as a sling to haul trash out of Kalalau Valley along the rugged Na Pali Coast when it ran into trouble.

After releasing a load mid-flight at the drop spot on the northern beach area of Polihale, the aircraft pitched forward on the nose and yawed back on the tail in an attempt to recover, said a couple visiting the island who asked to remain anonymous because they were threatened by a man on the scene. After another nose dive, the chopper again yawed aft and crashed tail-first into the ground before landing hard on its skids around 11:30 a.m. in the middle of a dirt public access road, the visitors said.

The pilot, Floyd Ingram, was able to walk away from the aircraft. He declined to comment on the incident.

An Inter-Island employee at the scene said it was just a hard landing and the pilot was still a little shaken up.

The Federal Aviation Administration promptly launched an investigation.

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(Source: Nathan Eagle, Kauai Garden Island News)

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