Big Island tour plane disappears
Summary:
A single-engine airplane with three people aboard disappeared yesterday over or near the Big Island.
The Cessna 172, owned and operated by Island Hoppers, took off from Kona and was last seen flying over Kilauea Volcano about 12:45 p.m., according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
The Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol and Big Isle Fire Department were involved in the search.
The 1974 Cessna 172M is registered N13713.
I guess the “M” in Cessna 172M means “moved the wings down from the top to the bottom of the airframe!”
Yeah, I’ve always heard the ‘M’ model was the best 172. 
A C-172 with “hershey bar” wings. Now there’s a thought. 
So today on FoxNews Radio they said the plane was on a three hour tour. A THREE HOUR TOUR! OK OK, they only said it once and they weren’t singing with thunder in the background. Coincidence?
Missing Big Island tour plane found
Conservation work crew gave tip needed to solve 5-day mystery
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai’i - A conservation crew camping and working in an isolated area of Ka’u last week gave the Big Island Fire Department the tip it needed to solve the five-day mystery of a missing tour plane, and helped guide a helicopter rescue crew to the wreckage and three bodies early yesterday morning in a thick hapu’u forest on the southeastern slope of Mauna Loa volcano.
The work crew members were unaware a plane was missing when they boarded their helicopter flight off the volcano Friday morning after a weeklong camp, but reported they heard a plane traveling through the area Tuesday, and noticed its engine abruptly went silent.
Complete article can be found here.
Edited to add the FAA’s preliminary data on the accident:
** Report created 6/23/2008 Record 1 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 13713 Make/Model: C172 Description: 172, P172, R172, Skyhawk, Hawk XP, Cutla
Date: 06/17/2008 Time: 0000
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: KONA State: HI Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N13713, AN ISLAND HOPPERS AIR TAXI CESSNA 172M AIRCRAFT, IS THE SUBJECT OF
AN ALERT NOTICE ISSUED AND SEARCH INITIATED 6/17, NOW PRESUMED AN ACCIDENT
AS AIRCRAFT FAILED TO RETURN FOR A LOCAL SIGHTSEEING TOUR, THE THREE
PERSONS ON BOARD ARE PRESUMED TO BE FATALLY INJURED, UPDATE: WRECKAGE
LOCATED IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN NEAR PAHALANEAR KONA, HAWAII
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 3
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 2 Fat: 2 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: ITO 2153Z 110013KT 10SM CLR 28/19 A3007
OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: HONOLULU, HI (WP13) Entry date: 06/20/2008 #
Hmm, that looks like an interesting rendering of the Cessna 172. 
The weather wasn’t starting to get rough, but the tiny ship may have been tossed.
So is this plane still missing? I’ve been up there many times and there is no place to hide.
Sadly no…
kitv.com/mostpopular/16669764/detail.html
Agree on Kona side, no place to hide, but get on the Hilo side, plenty of rain forest and trees to hide a plane.
11 hour drive around the BIIIIIG island takes you through 11 of the 13 earths climates.