No injuries when small plane lands in sprawling park in middle of Hawaii’s Waikiki tourist mecca

HONOLULU– A small plane landed in a sprawling park in Honolulu on Friday and the two people on board were not injured, officials said.

The plane “lost power and landed safely” in Kapiolani Park, in the heart of the tourist mecca Waikiki, said Scott Humber, a spokesman for the city of Honolulu.

The Honolulu Emergency Services Department received a call about the plane on Friday around 3 p.m. Department spokesman Shayne Enright said emergency responders determined no one was injured when the plane landed near Waikiki Shell, an amphitheater in the 80.93-acre park in the shadow of the island’s iconic Diamond Head crater .

Millie Dydasco, a coach with the Leahi Soccer Club, was getting ready for three teams to arrive for practice when the plane floated about 20 feet in front of her. “It was a pretty smooth landing,” she said. “It didn’t come as a disaster.”

She saw a man and a woman get out and then hug each other.

Hundreds of children usually practice football in the park every day. “Thank God it was still empty around that time,” Dydasco said. “If it had been another hour and a half, two hours later, with kids in the field… would it still have landed here?”