State Sen. Jill Tokuda has been chosen to lead the newly created Senate Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

Tokuda, D-24th (Kailua, Kane'ohe), was elected last year and just completed her first session. She was also picked in May to co-chair a joint committee with the state House investigating management problems at the Bureau of Conveyances.

Senate Democrats split off agriculture and Hawaiian affairs from the Senate Water and Land Committee, which will now be led by Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku).

Tokuda was vice chair of the Water and Land Committee last session. "I am honored to serve as a committee chair as a freshman," Tokuda said in a statement issued by Senate Democrats Wednesday. "I learned a lot from working with various committees last session and feel very prepared to take on the challenges of this new committee."

COPTER INCIDENT BLAMED ON ROTOR

KAHULUI, Maui — Fatigue cracking and failure of the tail rotor control rod during flight forced the pilot of a tour helicopter to make an emergency landing at Kahului Airport on Oct. 14, 2005, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report on the cause of the incident.

None of the five people aboard the Alex Air Hughes 369D helicopter was injured, and the aircraft sustained minor damage, said the report, which was released this week.

The pilot told investigators he declared an emergency when the tail rotor control was lost, and as he set up for a sliding landing onto the heliport tarmac and was 5 to 10 feet above the ground, a gust of wind forced the helicopter to fishtail and begin a 360-degree rotation.

The helicopter contacted the ground and spun around before coming to a stop in an upright position.

Because of damage, it was not possible to determine whether the crack would have been visible during the last inspection, the report said.