Pilot Reported Hydraulic Failure Before Fatal Crash

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, and Eurocopter combed through the wreckage of an air tour helicopter in Hawaii.

As Aero-News reported, the Heli-USA AS350-B2 (file photo of type, right) crashed Thursday afternoon at the Princeville Airport on Kauai. The helicopter's pilot and three passengers were killed in the crash; three more passengers were injured.

Local media reports state the A-Star's pilot reported hydraulics failure before the accident. A witness came forward to tell investigators she saw the helo impact in a nose-down attitude.

Lead NTSB investigator Brian Rayner said the team will look closely for evidence to support those reports.

"It will be something that will be examined because, again, [the pilot's] comments, and how they were relayed to us through the witnesses, is evidence,"  Rayner told Honolulu's KITV-4.

NTSB records show five A-Stars have gone down nationwide due to hydraulics failure in the past decade, according to KITV.

"We cannot confirm that hydraulics was the reason for the crash. It may have been a factor, but I am not in a position to make that statement," said Heli-USA vice president John Power. "And I can confirm our aircraft have been given a full bill of health to operate."

Thursday's accident was the fifth crash of a tour helicopter on Kauai in the past four years.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.heliusa.com