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Video by Dennis Oda and Bruce Asato
A memorial sprung up for victims of Friday's skydiving plane crash at Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia. The death toll was the highest from a civilian air crash in 20 years.
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Video by Dennis Oda / doda@staradvertiser.com
North Shore residents describe Friday's plane crash at Dillingham Airfield. Several were in the area at the time of the crash. All 11 on board died.
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Remnants of an aircraft carrying 11 people lays on the ground near a fence that surrounds Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia on Friday.
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National Transportation Safety Board investigators today are slated to launch their onsite inquiry into the crash of a twin-engine plane that killed 11 people Friday at Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia.
The Oahu Parachute Center plane was the same aircraft involved in a mishap three years ago in Byron, Calif.
The Beechcraft King Air BE 65-A90 crashed Friday at 6:24 p.m. soon after takeoff. Witnesses saw billowing black smoke and the wreckage engulfed in flames at the airfield’s fence line, away from the runway.
On July 23, 2016, the same plane was flying over a parachute jumpsite with 15 people on board when it stalled and spun, according to an NTSB report.
The pilot managed to gain control of the aircraft to “a wings-level attitude” but the plane stalled and spun again. All jumpers on board successfully exited the aircraft during the second spin and no injuries were reported.
After about nine rotations, the pilot recovered the aircraft but shortly thereafter, the plane stalled and rotated downward again. The pilot eventually gained control and flew back to the airport.
Once the aircraft landed, a witness observed the plane’s right horizontal stabilizer and elevator missing. The airplane parts were subsequently recovered in a field a few miles south of the airport. Investigators determined the stabilizer and elevator were “overstressed during the airplane’s left spin recovery, the report said.
The NTSB blamed the mishap on pilot error due to failure to adhere to proper “spin recovery procedures.”
NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said in addition to Friday’s crash scene, examination of air traffic control communications, weather conditions, radar data, pilot history including medical history, and the aircraft’s maintenance history will be part of the investigation.
Holloway said during a phone interview from Washington, D.C., that it will take 18 to 24 months to determine probable cause of the crash.