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HNN Staff | December 26, 2019 at 9:51 PM HST - Updated December 27 at 2:53 PM HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The wreckage of a helicopter that went missing Thursday while on a tour of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast has been found in a remote area of the island, officials confirmed.
There were seven people, including two children, onboard the chopper when it went down.
Authorities fear there were no survivors in the crash, multiple sources told to Hawaii News Now.
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said the county is working to contact the families of those involved and assess the crash area.
“We want to offer our thoughts and prayers to everyone involved,” Kawakami said.
First responders found the chopper wreckage about 9:30 am. Friday in a remote area of Kokee, about 13 miles north of Hanapepe.
When asked whether there were any survivors, Kauai Fire Department Battalion Chief Sol Kanoho said at a news conference Friday that he has “no actionable information on the status of the passengers.”
He said in addition to the pilot, there were two groups of passengers onboard the chopper ― a party of two and a party of four.
NTSB is investigating
The FAA said the helicopter that went down was a Eurocopter AS350 B2. The agency said it will work with the NTSB as it investigates the cause of the crash.
Kanoho said the helicopter went down on a “prescribed route” for air tours, indicating that the pilot didn’t deviate on the way back to Lihue.
The aircraft was due to return from the Na Pali Coast tour at 5:21 p.m. Thursday.
When the helicopter didn’t get back by 6 p.m., the Coast Guard was alerted and a search was launched.
According to a preliminary report, authorities last made contact with the helicopter around 4:40 p.m., when the pilot reported that the tour was leaving the Waimea Canyon area.
‘Our thoughts are with the families’
The aircraft belongs to Safari Helicopters, a tour helicopter company based in Lihue. Company officials declined to comment Friday.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Gov. David Ige said the state has offered its support as “rescue and recovery efforts continue.”
He added, “Our thoughts are with the families of those onboard as search and rescue crews work at the site of the helicopter crash on Kauai.”
The aircraft was equipped with an electronic locator, but it didn’t go off. After the chopper went missing, the Coast Guard launched a search by air and sea.
The Navy, Civil Air Patrol, Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Kauai National Guard, and commercial helicopters subsequently joined the search.
Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cox, of Coast Guard Joint Rescue Command Center Honolulu, said weather conditions in the search area were “challenging" with low visibility and blustery winds.
Third helicopter crash in 2019
The incident is the third helicopter crash in Hawaii so far this year.
In April, a helicopter
went down on a busy Kailua street, killing all three people onboard.
That same month, a state-contracted helicopter crashed in Sacred Falls Valley on Oahu’s North Shore. Four people in the craft escaped injury.
Other recent incidents include:
This story will be updated.
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