HONOLULU (KHON2) — A helicopter tour made a precautionary landing in the parking lot of Aloha Stadium Wednesday afternoon, officials said no one was injured and the helicopter landed without any damage.
According to the Honolulu Fire Department, one pilot and three passengers exited the aircraft uninjured and declined medical attention.
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The Federal Aviation Administration told KHON2 that the Robinson R44 helicopter landed safely in the parking lot at around 2:15 p.m. A spokesperson for Aloha Stadium said the aircraft belongs to Rainbow Helicopters — a company that offers helicopter tours and private helicopter charters — and landed at their lower Halawa lot, not near the Swap Meet.
State transportation officials said it touched down on the parking lot at 2:23 PM.
Preliminary information from the FAA said the pilot landed after a warning light indicator turned on, the Robinson R44 helicopter was inbound to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
The pilot and three passengers were not injured during the landing.
Aviation expert and Magnum Helicopters President Richard Schuman said it must have been a quick decision by the pilot, ultimately making the right call by landing on the stadium’s parking lot.
Rainbow Helicopters released this statement:
“Rainbow is cooperating with the investigation, and with the authorities. Safety is our number one priority and our pilot followed standard safety policies and protocols.”
Rainbow Helicopters
“The pilot for some reason, you know, felt something was going wrong. And he picked one of the best places, you could pick a huge empty parking lot,” Schuman said. “So as a pilot, we know we want to go with the most space and the least amount of people around.”
Schuman said federal law is on the side of pilots when needing to make emergency landings.
At the time of the landing, the swap meet on the stadium’s parking lot was closing up, and the helicopter landed far away from the vendors.
“Sense, smell, hear something and doesn’t feel right, it’s much better to get it on the ground. And then we can talk about it,” Schuman said. “So I think this pilot for whatever he felt at that time, he wanted to put it on the ground, and he’d made the correct decision.”
Schuman said as an industry, pilots would benefit from knowing what prompted the warning light and landing as a future learning lesson.
He said, “It’s vitally important that pilots share their experiences, the good ones and the bad ones. And so the younger pilots can learn.”
Crew members inspected the helicopter for a couple of hours before taking off.
The FAA is investigating this incident.
