The daughter of one of the crew members on a medical transport plane that went missing in the waters off Maui last week described her mother as an “amazing human.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the crew member, Courtney Parry, who was a flight nurse on a medical transport plane that lost radar contact on the evening of Dec. 15 about 16 miles south of Hana on its way to pick up a patient in Waimea on Hawaii island.
The U.S. Coast Guard had been looking for the Hawaii Life Flight plane and its crew for three days before suspending its search.
Parry’s daughter, Sydney Parry, said in a statement that her mother “was an amazing human being who literally lit up the room when she walked in. She made people laugh and feel good about themselves. She moved out to Maui so I could (pursue) my dream of teaching — that’s how much she loved her kids and how selfless she was.”
A GoFundMe page was set up following the incident and already has raised more than $11,000 to support Sydney, who is a kindergarten and first grade teacher on Maui. The two had lived together with their two dogs in Kihei and shared living expenses.
They were planning on traveling to Greece in the summer, the GoFundMe page noted.
“She was full of life and loved to travel. She always had a joke ready. She was my best friend and I can’t imagine my life without her, but I’m so proud of her and honored to be her daughter,” Sydney said.
The GoFundMe page will support Sydney, who now needs to find more affordable living arrangements.
After the plane went missing, Hawaii Life Flight issued a “safety stand down,” grounding its other planes and pausing its operations for the well-being of its staff and to conduct inspections on planes similar to the one that went missing. The missing plane was a Beechcraft King Air 90 twin-prop.
The stand-down created a shortage in medical air transport, prompting an emergency proclamation from Gov. Josh Green to bring out-of-state medical personnel and aircraft to step in.
The Hawaii Army National Guard also has provided support with Black Hawk helicopters and medical crews. It has done four transports since Monday, the state Department of Defense announced in a news release — two from Kauai to Oahu, one Hawaii island to Maui and another from Molokai to Maui.
Green authorized the National Guard support until Wednesday morning, but the news release said the need is being reevaluated.
