Search continues for 2 missing after Kauai copter crash
COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD
The Coast Guard searched on Friday for two of the three people who were aboard a tour helicopter that crashed off Kauai’s Na Pali Coast Thursday afternoon.
The search continued today for two people who are missing after a tour helicopter crashed in the water off the Na Pali Coast on Thursday.
Three people were on board the Ali‘i Kaua‘i Air Tours and Charters helicopter when it went down about a quarter-mile offshore of Hanakoa Valley. The body of one person was found Thursday. Their identities have not been released pending notification of next of kin.
RELATED STORY: National Guard joins search for 2 missing after Kauai copter crash
The search today involved U.S. Coast Guard, the Kauai Fire Department, the Kauai Emergency Management Agency, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Hawaii National Guard, the Ocean Safety Bureau, and the Kauai Police Department, according to a joint statement from Coast Guard and county official.
A temporary FAA flight restriction for the search area in in effect during the effort.
County search and rescue operations will be suspended at sundown and will continue Sunday.
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The helicopter was a four-seater Robinson R44 helicopter owned by Aloha Helicopter Tours LLC, dba Alii Air Tours & Charters.
Kauai Fire Chief Mike Gibson said Friday that fire and Ocean Safety personnel were dispatched at 1:20 p.m. Thursday to a report of a downed helicopter by a hiker on the Kalalau Trail.
Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck said the pilot was a local resident and the two passengers were mainland residents, but he did not release the identity or gender of the person whose body was recovered.
