5 Die In Skydiving Plane Crash On Kauai

Five people were killed on Monday when a skydiving tour plane (similar to this Cessna 182 pictured above) crashed on take off from a small airport in Kauai, Hawaii. Two instructors and two tandem divers were believed to have been on board along with the pilot. The names of the crash victims have not been released. Photo by Adrian Pingstone/Wikipedia

HANAPEPE, Hawaii, May 24 (UPI) — Five people died Monday after a skydiving plane crashed on take off from a small airport in Kauai, Hawaii.

The names of those killed in the crash have not been released, but the victims were part of a skydiving tour with Skydive Kauai. Four were pronounced dead at the scene and one died at the hospital a short time later, a county official said.

As the single-engine Cessna 182H attempted take-off about 9:30 a.m. from Port Allen Airport in Hanapepe on the island of Kauai, it quickly crashed and caught fire, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot, two skydive instructors and two tandem jumpers were believed to be in the plane when it crashed. A small brush fire was ignited in the surrounding area, which was extinguished about an hour later, Kauai Fire Department officials said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is working with officials to help determine the cause of the crash which is unknown at this time, officials said.

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