The crew of the Hawaii Air Ambulance company that died in Saturday's crash were remembered by their co-workers as caring rescue workers who loved life and the work they did.
Pilot Ron Laubacher and paramedics Daniel Villiaros and Mandi Shiraki were en route from Honolulu to Hilo Saturday to pick up a patient for transport when their plane went missing. The wreckage of the aircraft and bodies of the crew members were found Monday in a heaviliy forested area on the coastline of the Big Island.
Laubacher, 38, is survived by his sister and mother. Villiaros, 39, and Shiraki, 47, were both married with children. In addition to their work with Hawaii Air Ambulance, Villiaros served as a Honolulu firefighter and Shiraki served with the Honolulu ground emergency medical services.
"Ron was a superb pilot," said Andrew Kluger, CEO of Hawaii Air Ambulance. Kluger said that Laubacher worked with the company for five years and had over 8,000 hours of flying. "He had a good sense of humor, and he felt the freest when he was in the air. He emulated his father, who was also a pilot," Kluger said.
"Danny was a very spiritual individual, and felt he was doing the Lord's work," Kluger said. "He was kind, gentle, had a sense of humor, and he was affected by the patients he handled and he tried to catch up with them."
"Mandi was the life of the party," Kluger said. "He was very happy, loved his work and had a wide range of family and friends."
Kluger said the NTSB has just begun their investigation to determine why the Cessna 414A Chancellor aircraft crashed. He said the company flies over 2000 missions a year, and this is the first accident in 25 years of existence.
"The Hawaii Air Ambulance ?ohana extends its deepest aloha to the families of the missing staff, the rescue crews, our employees and the people of the state of Hawai?i for their support and dedication to this collective effort,? said Andrew Kluger, CEO of Hawaii Air Ambulance, after the search effort. "Even during this very difficult period, we are operating as normal and continuing to transport medical emergency patients throughout the state with top quality service and care.
