Local News

2 people from Mass. killed when helicopter crashes in Hawaii

Margaret Rimmler, 65, and Patrick Haskell, 59, both of Massachusetts, died in the crash, Kauai officials said.

A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and a Kauai Ocean Safety Bureau boat crew traverse the shoreline near Kalalau Beach on Kauai March 26, 2026. U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy Station Kauai

By Molly Farrar

March 29, 2026 | 5:50 PM

1 minute to read

Two of the three people killed in a sightseeing helicopter crash just off a remote beach in Hawaii last week were from Massachusetts, local officials said.

First responders, including the U.S. Coast Guard, responded to a helicopter crash Thursday off Kalalau Beach on Kauai, the fourth largest island in the archipelago northwest of Oahu. Kauai Fire Department crews responded around 3:45 p.m., the department said.

Five people, four passengers and one pilot, were on the helicopter that crash-landed on a sandbar 100 yards off Kalalau Beach, the Coast Guard said.

Margaret Rimmler, 65, and Patrick Haskell, 59, both of Massachusetts, died in the crash, Kauai officials said. The third victim, who was not publicly identified pending family notification, was a 40-year-old woman.

“We are greatly saddened by the loss of three lives in this helicopter crash and thinking of those individuals’ families and friends,” said Coast Guard Commander Andrew Williams, the search and rescue mission coordinator in Honolulu. “We are also keeping the survivors in our thoughts as they begin their recovery.

Good samaritans and Kauai crews rescued and medically evacuated the two survivors to a medical center in Lihue, Hawaii, according to the Coast Guard.

Officials said helicopter was a Hughes OH-6 Cayuse operated by Airborne Aviation, a tour company that offers hour-long doors-off Kauai tours, according to its website. The company did not return a request for comment Sunday evening.

In 2024, a tour helicopter crashed off the Nā Pali Coast in the same area as last week’s crash, killing two passengers and the pilot.