HANAPEPE — The fifth victim of Monday’s plane crash has been identified. Damien Jimmy Horan, 30, of Kauai, was the pilot of the Cessna 182H that crashed and burned at the Port Allen Airport about 9:30 a.m. Horan was flying
HANAPEPE — The fifth victim of Monday’s plane crash has been identified.
Damien Jimmy Horan, 30, of Kauai, was the pilot of the Cessna 182H that crashed and burned at the Port Allen Airport about 9:30 a.m.
Horan was flying a plane that belonged to Skydive Kauai and was taking two tandem skydivers, brothers Marshall Cabe, 25, and Phillip Cabe, 27, from Lawton, Oklahoma, to the jump site. The plane was also carrying two skydiving instructors, Enzo Amitrano, 43, and Wayne Rose, 26, when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff. There were no survivors.
Horan, was originally from Tullamore, Offaly County, in Ireland.
He lived in Australia for about seven years, and recently moved to Waimea. Brad Jones knew Horan while he was living in Australia.
Jones, director of Bungulla Farming, a Tammin- based farm that uses technology to measure soil samples, said he hired Horan to fly the farm’s planes.
Horan was an employee at Bungulla Farming for six years and had a degree in aeronautical design engineering, Jones said.
“He was a highly regarded member of our team and a prodigal son in our family,” he said. “He did his flying training whilst working here and we were all very proud to see him reach goals and achieve dreams. It was a mixture of sadness and pride that we saw him off on his adventures.”
In Ireland, Horan’s family worked as stonecuttters and was well-known in Tullamore, Thomas McKeigue told The Irish Mirror.
“They are a well-liked, decent and hard-working family,” he said. “The whole community will rally around the Horan family.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the Horan’s death and it was providing assistance to his family.
His family was traveling to Kauai Wednesday, The Irish Mirror said.
“It’ll be a very hard blow for his family to take,” McKeigue said. “To lose a young person is always terrible, and in those circumstances and when he was in the full bloom of health and the full blooms of his life is just tragic.”
The Kauai Police Department named the five victims Wednesday when autopsies were completed.
“The medical examiner has ruled that the cause of death for all five victims is multiple blunt force trauma due to flight crash,” a press release said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash of the 1965 aircraft. The wreckage was removed from the crash site Tuesday and taken away to be examined for clues about the cause of the accident.
A preliminary accident report is expected in the next five days while a complete report is expected to take between 12 to 16 months, said Maja Smith, an NTSB aviation accident investigator.
