Patrick Haskell and Margaret Rimmler, Massachusetts businessman & wife & third person, 40 year old woman killed in Kauai ‘sightseeing’ helicopter crash off Hawaii as investigation into cause of crash launched.
A Massachusetts insurance agency owner and his wife were among three people killed Thursday when a sightseeing helicopter crashed near a remote beach off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii.
Patrick Haskell, 59, owner of Haskell Insurance Agency in Needham, Massachusetts, and his wife, Margaret Rimmler, 65, both of Scituate, Massachusetts, died when a Hughes OH-6 Cayuse helicopter operated by Airborne Aviation plunged into the ocean near Kalalau Beach on the island’s Na Pali Coast, according to Kauai Police Chief Rudy Tai.
‘doors-off thrill seekers adventure tour’
The helicopter was carrying one pilot and four passengers when it went down at about 3:45 p.m. local time. Two survivors were pulled from the water by good Samaritans and Kauai Fire Department crews and transported to Wilcox Medical Center in Lihue. The third fatality, a 40-year-old female has not yet been publicly identified pending family notification, kauainownews.com reported.
‘We are greatly saddened by the loss of three lives in this helicopter crash and thinking of those individuals’ families and friends,’ said Cmdr. Andrew Williams, search and rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard Sector Honolulu.
Leading up to the tragedy, reports told of winds in the area picking up.
Airborne Aviation bills itself as providing sightseeing tours of Kauai’s canyons, shoreline and waterfalls. Airborne advertises a ‘doors-off thrill seekers adventure tour’ that seats up to four people.
National trend of helicopter crashes
Haskell, a Boston College graduate, had led Haskell Insurance Agency — a family business founded by his late father, George F. Haskell, in Needham — since October 1991. Rimmler was a veteran technology marketing executive.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it has opened an investigation into the crash. Airborne Aviation, which offers sightseeing tours over Kauai’s canyons, coastline and waterfalls, said it has suspended all tours and is cooperating with investigators.
Thursday’s crash is the latest in a series of fatal crashes that has plagued the industry for decades and renewed questions into operator safety.
At least 16 people have died in helicopter crashes in Hawaii in the past seven years, including two crashes in 2019.
Crashes have also plagued helicopter tour operations in other parts of the U.S., including a crash last year on the Hudson River in New York that killed the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists.
