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Landscapers first to respond to crash
By Andy Gross - The Garden Island
The very first individuals to respond when a Heli USA Airways helicopter crashed into the ocean Friday off of Ha'ena were not professional rescue workers, but alert landscapers aiming to save lives.
Leon Triggs, Marty Wilkinson and Kevin Pack, principal of Green Mountain Landscaping, were working in the area, and while checking out the weather, heard and saw a helicopter show up at Cannons, and drop flares in the water.
They went outside and saw people in the water, and noticed that no one was going out to help.
"We grabbed our boards and paddled out. The pilot was in bad shape, disoriented, (and) an older man was unconscious," Triggs recalled. "He was in bad shape."
He said he did not see the Heli USA copter crash into the sea.
Triggs put the older man on a longboard, and began to bring the man into shore. He said Pack and Wilkinson were assisting the pilot and a couple in their 30s.
He said the first helicopter (likely a sister Heli USA aircraft whose pilot was assisting in rescue efforts), which had been hovering above, was soon replaced by another rescue chopper.
Triggs said the initial hovering helicopter lent some extra anxiety to the rescue effort.
"It was pushing us out, taking us to the reef," he said.
"Taking him in, I was trying to keep his head out of the water," said Triggs.
"We were in the surf waiting five minutes for help," said Triggs.
Triggs said the rescue of the older man, who he described as being in his 60s, did not go smoothly because of the surf conditions. "It took them at least five minutes to get him in," said Triggs, who said it felt good to have tried to help, but unfortunate that the man had reportedly not survived.
According to officials with the Kaua'i Police Department, Laverne Clifton, 69, a male tourist from Beloit, Wisc., was one of three people who perished in the accident.
The names of the other victims are being withheld until next of kin has been notified, according to county Public Information Officer Mary Daubert.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Triggs described the pilot as a Caucasian in his 30s, and the couple, who reportedly left Kaua'i Monday, as being in their 30s or 40s.
Andy Gross, business editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or agross@kauaipubco.com
Leon Triggs, Marty Wilkinson and Kevin Pack, principal of Green Mountain Landscaping, were working in the area, and while checking out the weather, heard and saw a helicopter show up at Cannons, and drop flares in the water.
They went outside and saw people in the water, and noticed that no one was going out to help.
"We grabbed our boards and paddled out. The pilot was in bad shape, disoriented, (and) an older man was unconscious," Triggs recalled. "He was in bad shape."
He said he did not see the Heli USA copter crash into the sea.
Triggs put the older man on a longboard, and began to bring the man into shore. He said Pack and Wilkinson were assisting the pilot and a couple in their 30s.
He said the first helicopter (likely a sister Heli USA aircraft whose pilot was assisting in rescue efforts), which had been hovering above, was soon replaced by another rescue chopper.
Triggs said the initial hovering helicopter lent some extra anxiety to the rescue effort.
"It was pushing us out, taking us to the reef," he said.
"Taking him in, I was trying to keep his head out of the water," said Triggs.
"We were in the surf waiting five minutes for help," said Triggs.
Triggs said the rescue of the older man, who he described as being in his 60s, did not go smoothly because of the surf conditions. "It took them at least five minutes to get him in," said Triggs, who said it felt good to have tried to help, but unfortunate that the man had reportedly not survived.
According to officials with the Kaua'i Police Department, Laverne Clifton, 69, a male tourist from Beloit, Wisc., was one of three people who perished in the accident.
The names of the other victims are being withheld until next of kin has been notified, according to county Public Information Officer Mary Daubert.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Triggs described the pilot as a Caucasian in his 30s, and the couple, who reportedly left Kaua'i Monday, as being in their 30s or 40s.
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