HONOLULU -- A skydiving tour plane crashed and caught fire shortly after takeoff from the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Monday, killing all five on board, according to county officials.
The 9:30 a.m. crash of the single-engine plane near Port Allen Airport, outside the town of Hanapepe, was believed to have killed the pilot, two skydive instructors, and two tandem jumpers, according to a county news release. Names of the victims hadn't been confirmed.
Four individuals were pronounced dead at the scene. An adult male was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The plane, a Cessna 182H, "crashed under unknown circumstances while taking off at Port Allen Airport," Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, told The Huffington Post in an email. "The plane caught fire after crashing."
The County of Kauai said firefighters, police and medics were working at the crash scene. The National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and will determine the cause of the crash.
In a second, unrelated incident, two people were brought safely to shore after their aircraft went down around 11:30 a.m. in waters near Makaha Beach, on Oahu's west side.
