Close X
Friday, September 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Canadian Teenager Dies After Pearl Harbor Helicopter Crash

The Canadian Press, 23 Feb, 2016 10:09 AM
    HONOLULU — A 16-year-old passenger died Monday after being injured last week in a Pearl Harbor helicopter crash, hospital officials said.
     
    The teen and three family members visiting from Canada were aboard a tour helicopter when it crashed into the water near the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center on Thursday.
     
    Their names have not been released.
     
    Two family members remain hospitalized in stable condition. Another was treated and released.
     
    "So that the 16-year-old's memory lives on, the family has chosen to donate his organs to patients in need," Gidget Ruscetta, chief operating officer at Pali Momi Medical Center, said in a statement.
     
    No information was available for the pilot, who was taken to another hospital.
     
    Federal agencies are investigating the crash.
     
    The boy was trapped underwater and had to be cut free from his seat, according to witnesses.
     
    Federal records show the helicopter is registered to Jeffrey Gebhard of Kailua, Hawaii. The Navy said the helicopter reportedly belongs to Genesis Aviation. The website for Genesis Helicopters says it was founded by Gebhard and conducts tours over Oahu.
     
     
     
    A call to Gebhard was not answered on Monday. A man who answered at a number listed for him last week declined comment, citing the investigation.
     
    Civilian divers floated the helicopter to the surface Friday and a crane pulled it out. The Navy said the aircraft was taken to Genesis Aviation's hangar at the airport, where the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation.
     
    It was the second major crash this year involving helicopters on Oahu.
     
    Twelve Hawaii-based Marines were killed when two military helicopters crashed during nighttime training on Jan. 14. Both aircraft were CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters that were part of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463.
     
    Shawn Winrich, visiting from Madison, Wisconsin, was taking photos of Pearl Harbor when he saw the helicopter headed toward the popular tourist destination.
     
    He switched to video, recording the helicopter's dramatic drop into the water.
     
    "All of a sudden it essentially just fell out of the sky and crash-landed in the water," he said last week.
     
    He stopped filming and jumped in to help.
     
    The Honolulu Emergency Services Department took the teen to the hospital in critical condition.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    A Rarity In A U.S. Presidential Debate: Candidate Defends His Canadian Birth

    A Rarity In A U.S. Presidential Debate: Candidate Defends His Canadian Birth
    Thursday night's debate was a shift from the relative civility between the billionaire and the senator in the days leading up to the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses.

    A Rarity In A U.S. Presidential Debate: Candidate Defends His Canadian Birth

    Ontario Man Gets Life Sentence In U.S. Court For Multimillion Dollar Pot Smuggling Operation

    Ontario Man Gets Life Sentence In U.S. Court For Multimillion Dollar Pot Smuggling Operation
    The U.S. Attorney's Office says 45-year-old Michael "Mickey" Woods of Cornwall, Ont., was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Syracuse.

    Ontario Man Gets Life Sentence In U.S. Court For Multimillion Dollar Pot Smuggling Operation

    African Trophy Hunting Show North Of Toronto Angers Animal Rights Activists

    African Trophy Hunting Show North Of Toronto Angers Animal Rights Activists
    African Events Canada, the organizer of The Africa Show, says the two-day event in Vaughan, Ont., offers Canadians an opportunity to book trips to Africa where they can hunt animals such as lions, leopards, elephants and hippopotamuses.

    African Trophy Hunting Show North Of Toronto Angers Animal Rights Activists

    Judge Rules Guy Turcotte Must Serve 17 Years Before Parole Eligibility

    Judge Rules Guy Turcotte Must Serve 17 Years Before Parole Eligibility
    Guy Turcotte was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in December in the 2009 stabbing deaths of his two children, Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3.

    Judge Rules Guy Turcotte Must Serve 17 Years Before Parole Eligibility

    Canadian Man Ordered Held In Jail Until 4th Trial Of 1988 Double Killing

    Canadian Man Ordered Held In Jail Until 4th Trial Of 1988 Double Killing
      Anthony Barnaby pleaded not guilty in September to murder charges.

    Canadian Man Ordered Held In Jail Until 4th Trial Of 1988 Double Killing

    Government Will 'Get It Right' On Getting Oil, Gas To Tidewater, Says Jim Carr

    Government Will 'Get It Right' On Getting Oil, Gas To Tidewater, Says Jim Carr
    OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr acknowledges there's considerable urgency to building new Canadian pipeline capacity to tidewater, even as new roadblocks continue to appear.

    Government Will 'Get It Right' On Getting Oil, Gas To Tidewater, Says Jim Carr