Witnesses felt huge wind gust before Hawaii helicopter crash killed two from Kentucky

Witnesses described a “huge” gust of wind along the coast of a Hawaiian island just before a helicopter crashed, killing a Kentucky couple, according to a federal report.

The July 11 crash happened during a sightseeing trip that included Northern Kentucky residents Jim and Amy Nichole Quintua.

The couple and pilot Guy Croydon, 69, had lifted off in a Robinson R44 helicopter for an hour-long, open-door tour around the island of Kaua’i.

They were about 30 minutes into the trip when the crash happened along the Na Pali Coast, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which released its preliminary report on the crash last week.

People who were hiking a trail on the coast told investigators a “huge” and sudden gust of wind blew over them, and then they heard a loud bang, according to the report.

When they looked toward the noise, the hikers saw the wreckage of the helicopter falling into the ocean in two pieces, the main fuselage and the tail section.

The witnesses said the helicopter sank moments after hitting the water about a quarter of a mile offshore, according to the NTSB report.

Rescuers search for the victims

Rescuers on jet skis found Amy Quintua’s body about an hour after the crash, but didn’t find the bodies of her husband or Croydon before suspending the search after about 60 hours.

The U.S. Coast Guard used sonar equipment and a remotely operated robot to look for the wreckage and found the tail section in about 77 feet of water, according to the report.

Searchers didn’t find the main fuselage.

Jim, 60, and Amy Quintua, 53, had been married since 2015 and lived in Union.

NTSB preliminary report

The NTSB releases a preliminary report on accidents early in its investigations. The reports typically include information such as the type of aircraft involved, the flight track and witness observations.

The agency did not say in the report that windy conditions caused the crash that killed the Kentucky couple, but the fact that it included information on the wind gust indicates that it is one issue under investigation.

It could be more than a year before the agency releases a final report on the probable cause of the crash.