HONOLULU, July 15 (UPI) -- Eight people were confirmed dead Monday after the separate weekend crashes of two small airplanes in remote areas of Alaska and the Hawaiian island of Maui
Searchers Monday found the wreckage of a single-engine plane in a valley on the eastern side of Maui while a rescue crew in Alaska found no survivors when they reached the wreckage of a small plane that had disappeared while on a flight to a fishing lodge.
The pilots of both planes were described as highly competent and careful aviators, and there were no distress calls or indications of bad weather prior to the crashes.
"The pilot radioed the air traffic control center and shortly afterward he went off the radar screen," Hawaii Transportation Director Marilyn Kali told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin after searchers spotted the shattered wreckage of the single-engine Cessna that went down Saturday while on a flight from Kahului to Hana.
The pilot of the plane was identified as Steve Betsil, owner of a construction company on the island. The other victims were Betsil's cousin, Jerry Betsil, of Fort Worth, Texas, Jerry Betsil's daughter, Emma and another cousin, Meredith. The girls were listed as ages 10 and 11.
"He was one of the sharper students we had," said Betsil's flight instructor, Anton Stammberger. "He's a real go-getter. He was very competent."
The pilot of the plane lost in Alaska was also described as skilled and not one to take chances.
Matt A. Hipkiss, 35, Florence, Ore., was at the controls of the DeHavilland Beaver floatplane that was on a trip Friday from Anchorage to a fishing lodge on Lake Iliamana about 225 miles to the southwest.
"Of any pilot I've had over numerous past years, I probably got more passenger compliments about Matt," said Tim La Porte, the owner of Bigfoot Air, the air taxi service that Hipkiss was flying for.
Hipkiss was taking three senior citizens from the Seattle area to the lodge for a weeklong fishing trip.
The wreckage was spotted late Sunday by a Civil Air Patrol search plane. An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter was dispatched and confirmed Sunday night that all aboard had been killed.
