Minnesota Man Among Hawaii Plane Crash Victims
HONOLULU/MINNEAPOLIS (AP/WCCO) -- The Honolulu Medical Examiner is releasing the names of seven of the 11 people killed when a skydiving plane crashed in Hawaii.
They include Joshua Drablos, a 27-year-old resident of Virginia who was stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Navy, and Nikolas Glebov, a 28-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Glebov was an active Senior Airman last stationed at the McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, the Air Force Personnel Center said. He started duty in 2012 and was highly decorated with a National Defense Service Medal, an Air Force Good Conduct Medal and an Army Achievement Medal, among other awards.
The NOAA Marine and Aviation said in a tweet that Glebov was a General Vessel Assistant serving aboard Ship Oscan Dyson.
"He was always adventurous and reminded me to be so, and to be curious and appreciate the beauty of life," Glebov's younger sister, Diana, said.
She said he took a month-long break in Hawaii from an Alaskan federal research trip and was set to return to Alaska the day after the fatal plane crash.
Glebov's GoFundMe site states his mother asked him not to go skydiving on little planes after he told her of his intended activities. Glebov responded by saying he was "not on a vacation in Hawaii. He was on an exploration of Hawaii."
A couple in their 20s, Ashley and Bryan Weikel of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was also on the plane.
There were three Hawaii residents among the seven: Daniel Herndon, Michael Martin and Jordan Tehero.
The identities of the remaining four victims will be released once they have been confirmed.
There were 10 men and one woman among the victims.
The plane crashed Friday shortly after it took off from Dillingham Airfield on the northern side of Oahu Island.
The crash was the worst U.S. civil aviation accident since 2011.
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