LIHU'E, Kaua'i —The Heli USA pilot whose tour helicopter crashed into the ocean Sept. 23, resulting in three deaths, pleaded not guilty yesterday to multiple charges associated with the crash.

Two passengers drowned and the other died of a heart attack after the helicopter sank off Ha'ena. Pilot Glen Lampton, who now lives in Las Vegas, made it ashore along with two other passengers.

A Kaua'i grand jury indicted Lampton on three counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree reckless endangering, making a false statement to authorities and tampering with evidence.

The manslaughter charges are felonies, each carrying a maximum 10 years in jail and $25,000 fine. All other counts are misdemeanors. A trial has been set for July 24.

"My client pleaded not guilty because he is not guilty, and that's what the outcome of the trial is going to be," said Lampton's attorney, Sam King Jr.

Kaua'i prosecutors said that criminal charges against helicopter pilots in fatal crashes are rare, but mainly because the pilots often do not survive.

In its preliminary investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said Lampton flew into a rain squall that several other tour pilots had flown through, though some others had turned around . He reported that his Aerospatiale AS350 helicopter lost power in heavy rain, causing it to drop to the water, rise once, then hit the ocean again and roll over.

Mary Soucy, 62, and Catherine Baron, 68, friends from Portland, Maine, drowned. Laverne Clifton, 68, of Beloit, Wis., died of heart failure as the result of a near-drowning, said pathologist Dr. Anthony Manoukian. Karen and Bill Thorson of Beloit, Wis., survived the crash.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.