16-year-old passenger dies after Pearl Harbor helicopter crash
HONOLULU -- A hospital says a 16-year-old passenger has died after being injured last week in a Pearl Harbor helicopter crash.
Hospital officials say the teen was pronounced dead Monday and his family has decided to donate his organs.
The teen and three family members visiting from Canada were aboard a tour helicopter when it crashed into the water near the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center on Thursday.
Pali Momi Hospital officials said two other members, a 50-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, remain in stable condition at the hospital, reported CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB-TV. Another family member was treated at another hospital and released. And the pilot, Ryan Rohner, was taken to Tripler Army Medical Center in serious condition.
In a statement Monday, Pali Momi said the 16-year-old's family has decided to donate his organs "so that (his) memory lives on."
Federal agencies are investigating the crash.
A witness told KGMB that the helicopter seemed to fall from the sky.
"My initial reaction was, 'This helicopter is kinda low flying.' It then hovered for a sec and then started to descend," witness Roy Gano said in an email to KGMB. "It was not spinning out of control, but it was dropping at a good rate. It narrowly missed the rocky edge and turned to its side ... I saw people dive into the water to help."
A tourist from Australia said she was visiting Pearl Harbor when she heard a couple of loud bangs and realized a helicopter had crashed into the water.
Amber Moncrieff said boats seemed to come from everywhere.
Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokeswoman Shayne Enright previously said responders treated the boy and took him to a hospital after the hard landing.
"We are told bystanders jumped in to help rescue these patients from the water," said Enright.
One of them was Chris Gardner, a tour guide with Keawe Adventures who was with a group of tourists at the visitor center when he heard the crash.
"I took off my shirt and dove in," he said, describing how he, a Navy sailor, a federal police officer and another man took turns diving to the submerged helicopter and trying to free a passenger with a knife. "He was strapped into his seat in the back of the aircraft."
They eventually freed the teenage passenger.
The helicopter crashed about 20 feet offshore, right next to the visitor center's lawn, said tourist Justice Winrich of Madison, Wisconsin. She watched as it "plopped down" into the water.
"I saw it like as it was coming in, and it looked pretty normal. It didn't look like it was shaking or anything," Winrich said. "It just started like getting really close this way and started going down." She thought it was strange that the helicopter was that close to people.
As it got closer to the water, she saw some dark smoke coming out of the back of the helicopter, and it started shaking slightly.
Winrich saw three people get out of the helicopter immediately and start swimming to shore.
"I was like, oh my God, I can't believe this just happened. It was crazy," she said. "You go on vacation and you never think you're going to see something like that."
Her father, Shawn Winrich, caught the crash on video. His footage shows the helicopter heading toward the water and then crashing down. The blades stop spinning as it turns over in the water.
Local author Allan Seiden was signing books at the visitor center when someone told him a helicopter crashed. He rushed over to where people were gathered, but by then the helicopter wasn't visible.
"I think it sunk instantly," he said.