2 people injured after small cargo plane crashes near Molokai Airport

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Two people were injured after a small cargo plane crashed near Molokai Airport on Monday morning.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a single-engine Cessna 208 with two people on board crashed around 5 a.m. while on approach to the airport in Hoolehua.

Kamaka Air, a local air cargo company, confirmed the incident involved one of their planes, N236KA.

The state Department of Transportation said the plane went down about 1.5 miles away from the airport in a rural area.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, one person sustained serious injuries while the other had minor injuries. However, a Maui County spokesperson said medical personnel transported the two occupants in stable condition to the hospital for further treatment.

Airport fire crews, Emergency Medical Services and other first responders were at the scene.

FAA and NTSB said they will investigate the incident.

In a statement, state Sen. Lynn DeCoite, whose district includes Molokai, said she immediately drove to the crash site upon hearing news of the situation.

“I want to commend the Molokai emergency personnel who swiftly responded to the incident,” she said, in the statement. “Kamaka Air is a lifeline for our Molokai community, and I will work closely with them and other relevant agencies to evaluate this situation with hopes that we can prevent another incident like this from happening again.”

Kamaka Air also gave a statement, sayingthat it had temporarily stopped all flights until it found that there was no further abnormal risk. The company later resumed a limited schedule on Monday to ensure that Molokai and Lanai would continue to receive their cargo.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and if we believe there may be some factors that affect the operation as a whole, will not hesitate to adjust our operation accordingly,” she statement continued.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

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