Pilot: 'We're Out of Control Here'

Crash occurred near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 18, 2024 11:15 AM CST

Two pilots were killed Tuesday in Honolulu when their small cargo plane crashed into a vacant building that had been slated for demolition. NBC News reports the Kamaka Air Cessna 208 was participating in a training flight when the crash occurred around 3:15pm local time. Hawaii's Department of Transportation head, Ed Sniffen, confirmed "two souls were on board. Both perished." The crash occurred near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport shortly after takeoff, reports the AP, and the building in question belonged to the DOT. The plane had been bound for Maui County's Lanai Airport.

One witness tells Hawaii News Now: "I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden, I saw a small plane fly past my office window, which is on the seventh floor. And I went, 'Oh, he's really, really low,' and he started banking and going back [toward] the airport, and then I heard a loud bang." Sniffen cited witnesses who said the pilots avoided "quite a bit of structures, including our fuel farm, to minimize the impacts," per NBC. Recordings show the air traffic control tower asked, "You're turning right, correct?" The response: "We're out of control here." The cause of the crash is under investigation. The names of the pilots haven't been disclosed. (More plane crash stories.)

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