Helo pilot may face charges

The Honolulu Star Bulletin reports that officials in Hawaii are considering filing negligent homicide charges against the pilot of a sightseeing helicopter that crashed in September of this year. Three people were killed when the helicopter went down off the island of Kauai during a thunderstorm.

Prosecutors are treating this case similarly to how they would treat a fatal motor vehicle accident...

For a manslaughter charge to be sustained, prosecutors would have to prove that a vehicle was operated in a reckless manner. In a car accident that could be excessive speeding, weaving in and out of vehicles or passing over a double yellow line. The lesser charge of negligent homicide would indicate lesser culpability, such as someone committing a single traffic infraction at the time of the accident.

In this case it apparently comes down to whether [the pilot] should have turned around instead of flying into the thunderstorm.

The ill-fated helicopter was operated by Heli USA. The newspaper reported that the pilot is still employed by the company, but has left Kauai.