Searchers find bodies weeks after plane crash: HI officials

Bodies and wreckage of a medical plane have been recovered from the Pacific Ocean weeks after it crashed off the coast of Hawaii, officials said.

The Hawaii Life Flight crashed around 9:10 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, near Kaupa, Maui, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The C90A twin-engine, turbine-powered plane had three crew members on board, including a pilot, a paramedic and a flight nurse, the NTSB said.

According to a preliminary report, the plane took off from Kahului Airport on Maui and was set for Waimea-Kohala Airport before it crashed into the water.

The search effort was called off after three days and 28 searches covering 4,732 square nautical miles, officials said.

The deep-water search operation began Jan. 8 off Oahu, the NTSB said.

Searchers covered 54 square miles at depths of 4,500 to 7,500 feet using “side-scan and multi-beam sonar, autonomous underwater vehicles and a remotely operated vehicle,” the federal agency said.

The wreckage of the plane was discovered around 5:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 9, officials said. It was found 6,420 feet in the ocean and about 1,200 feet south of where the plane’s last data point was recorded, officials said.

“Most” of the wreckage and the bodies of the crew were recovered the next day.

The crew members were identified as pilot Brian Treptow, paramedic Gabriel Camacho and flight nurse Courtney Parry, KITV reports.

“The aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder, cockpit image recorder and other electronic components will be transported to the NTSB laboratory in Washington,” officials said.

A full investigation will be completed in 12 to 24 months, the NTSB said.