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A pilot's final five words have been captured in an audio transmission just moments before his aircraft crashed into an airport, killing two.
Emergency services in Honolulu were called to reports of a plane crash into a building near Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Hawaii, on Tuesday (December 17) around 3pm.
Kamaka Air Cessna 208 Caravan was conducting a training flight at the time when eyewitnesses saw the plane flying at an alarmingly low altitude, close to an elevated rail track.
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Locals feared the aircraft would come crashing down on the many cargo areas and industrial businesses that sit along the Ualena and Aolele streets, but it crashed into an empty building and killed the two people on board the jet.
Sister Alicia Damien Lau told KHON2 News: "I saw this plane coming from the south and going around and losing altitude.
"It looked like it was going on towards the main terminal but it kept losing altitude until there was a big crash and that's when everything was just black smoke."
Another witness, a worker called Sergiy Shpanka, told Hawaii News Now that they were working a few building away when 'we heard, you know, loud sound'.
Sergiy continued: "It was crazy because it was so low, and then he is turning left side, and we didn't see... we continue to come here and see [the] fire."
The pilot was reportedly advised to land somewhere safe, on 'any runway, any place you can do' before it smashed into the side of the vacant building, which is owned by the airport.
Before the crash, tower control could be heard asking the pilot of the small plane, 'You're turning right, right?'
The pilot then responded what is now known as his chilling final words in the audio transmission: "We are... we have...uh... we're out of control here."
The tower radioed back: "Okay, if you can land, if you can level it off, that's fine. Any runway, any place you can do."
Holululu Fire Department Chief, Sheldon Hao, told Hawaii News Now that it was lucky the crash-site had been abandoned with the building the plane crashed into set for demolition with plans to turn it into a parking garage.
The fire chief said it was a 'best-case scenario' as 'no one else was involved'.
The director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation, Ed Sniffen, also commented: "This could have been much, much worse, but the situation was limited to the two that was flying the plane... from what we understand the pilot made a lot of adjustments to minimize what they hit."
The names of the two people who died in the plane crash have not been released.
Honolulu Mayor, Rick Blangiardi, said in a statement that he is 'deeply saddened' by the tragic news that claimed the lives of the two Kamaka Air employees.
The Mayor added: "On behalf of the City and County of Honolulu, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those we lost.
"This heartbreaking incident reminds us of the dedication and risks taken by those who help keep Hawaii's essential goods moving."