Sightseeing tour ends in tragedy in fiery crash north of Honolulu

The devastated relatives of an Australian woman killed in a tourist helicopter crash in Honolulu are struggling to comprehend her tragic death.

An Australian woman is among three people killed when their helicopter crashed on a public street in Hawaii while on a sightseeing flight.

Pilot Joseph Berridge, 28, and two passengers including Ryan McAuliffe, also 28, from Chicago and NSW woman Jan Burgess — who authorities said had been visiting from Australia — were killed instantly when their Robinson R44 chopper crashed north of downtown Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Authorities said the four-seater tour helicopter was seen to spin out of control before it crashed nose down and burst into flames on Oneawa Road about 9am, narrowly missing homes.

Jan Burgess was killed in a helicopter crash in Hawaii. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Burgess, who was from East Maitland and was known to loved ones as Jammie, was on holidays with her family saying they were struggling to understand her sudden loss.

“Jammie was on holidays with other family members when she was involved in this tragic incident, we are trying to understand and deal with the sudden loss at this time and we request that our extended family’s privacy is respected during this process,” the family said in a statement

“Jammie is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunty and friend to a wide network of family and friends. We are all in pain at this time. We are also mindful that this tragic incident is also affecting two other families and friends and request that due care is also given to their privacy as we share in their grief.”

The family thanked Australian consular officials in Hawaii for their support as well as other investigative agencies and locals who helped in the aftermath of the disaster.

“We would like to recognise the brave and selfless efforts of the local community who rushed to this accident scene to assist those that were injured and also the response from the local emergency services ... our sole focus is on reuniting all of our family home in Australia so that we can assist each other with remembering and celebrating Jammie in the manner that she deserves.”

Pilot Joseph Berridge, with his dog Lucious in Albuquerque last year. Picture: AP

The family said they believed it would be a “protracted” investigation into the cause.

Dozens of local residents rushed to the scene, including one Marine in a flight suit who lived nearby and risked flames to unstrap the seatbelt of one of those on-board, believed to be the pilot, to drag their body out. Others drew garden houses to douse flames. The area has a huge military air base nearby.

“A Marine officer in a flight suit came running up. He was the first there and started trying to unbuckle the seat belt,” Evan Strouse told Hawaii News Now. “Me and him started dragging him out. I want to think that the pilot tried to hit the road because it’s crazy that this helicopter landed in the road and avoided all the other houses around it.”

The tail of the crashed helicopter is seen in the middle of the street in the Kailua neighbourhood. Picture: AP

Debris was strewn over a large area, residents found a mobile phone on a house roof and a shoe while the chopper’s fuel tank landed on a parked car.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed one of those killed in the Monday crash was an Australian woman and officials were providing consular assistance to her family.

This 2018 photo provided by Bobby Berridge shows his son, Joseph Berridge, with a Robinson R44 helicopter. Picture: Suppied

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was investigating and still at the scene.

“We’ll be focusing our investigation on this particular aircraft and as we discover or uncover trends or commonalities, we will give those discoveries their due diligence,” NTSB’s air safety investigator at the scene Fabian Salazar said. He confirmed all three had died at the scene.

Father of the pilot Bobby Berridge said his son had only moved to Honolulu two weeks ago from New Mexico to follow his dream of piloting helicopter tours over the Hawaiian Islands.

Local Police Lieutenant Wayne Wong said it was remarkable no one on the ground was injured.

Investigators stand around the wreckage of the helicopter after the crash. Picture: AP

“Oneawa is a busy street, especially in the morning hours, people going to work, people going to school. It could have impacted a bigger part of the community,” he said.

The chopper was operated by the tour agency Novictor Helicopters, according to the FAA and is the second crash in six months for the company. In October last year it had another chopper crash after the pilot suffered a medical emergency. Three people were injured in that one. Another local company also had a chopper crash in April from an apparent engine failure although there were no injuries in that one.

“This accident is heartbreaking for everyone, especially the families and friends of the passengers and pilot, who was part of our Novictor family,” Novictor said in a statement yesterday. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them,” the company said. “The safety and welfare of our personnel and passengers are our top priority.”

There are now calls to ground all tour helicopter flights and impose a ban on flights over suburbs.

Witnesses reported seeing it crash in smoke.

“When it was falling, it wasn’t on fire,” local resident Ikona Kaapana said. “It was all black and there was no propellers and it was on its side when it was falling. We heard it land and it just went up in smoke.”