Two Massachusetts Visitors Identified Among Three Killed in Kalalau Helicopter Crash

Two visitors from Massachusetts were among the three people killed when a tour helicopter crashed off Kalalau Beach on March 26, Kaua'i police confirmed at a multi-agency briefing the following day, even as federal investigators cautioned that the cause of the accident remains unknown.

Kaua'i Police Chief Rudy Tai identified the victims as Margaret Rimmler, 65, and Patrick Haskell, 59. A third person killed was described only as a 40-year-old woman; her name was withheld pending notification of next of kin. Two survivors were transported to Wilcox Medical Center, where officials said conditions had stabilized. Chief Tai asked the public to avoid speculation about medical details while families were still being reached.

What county officials cannot yet say is why the aircraft went down. The NTSB and FAA will lead the technical investigation, examining pilot records, maintenance logs, weather conditions at the time of the accident, and recovered wreckage. That process typically stretches across months before a probable cause determination is published, and officials were careful to describe all current information as preliminary. Airborne Aviation, identified as the operator of the flight, suspended operations pending the outcome of those federal inquiries. The company's tour offerings along Kaua'i's cliffs and waterfalls include "doors-off" flights that have drawn renewed scrutiny alongside a longer pattern of aviation accidents involving Hawaii sightseeing operators.

Chief Tai used the March 27 briefing to acknowledge the scale of the emergency response, citing Kaua'i Ocean Safety, the Kaua'i Fire Department, the Kaua'i Emergency Management Agency, American Medical Response, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Triage and evacuation at Kalalau Beach tested the limits of that coordination: the site sits at the end of the Nā Pali Coast, reachable only by sea or air, with surrounding terrain that is both remote and environmentally sensitive.

The crash has sharpened questions about oversight of Nā Pali helicopter tours, among the busiest aviation corridors on the island. Whether the deaths of Rimmler and Haskell prompt changes to tour operating standards, emergency response protocols, or both will ultimately hinge on what the NTSB and FAA conclude. County officials committed to transparency as the federal process unfolds, with published preliminary reports expected to serve as the clearest public window into what happened above Kalalau Beach.