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The U.S. Coast Guard was set early Friday to resume the search for a tour helicopter carrying seven passengers – including two children – more than 12 hours after vanished during a flight over a nearly uninhabited island.
The helicopter had been due to arrive back at Kauai’s Na Pali coast at 5:21 p.m. local time on Thursday, but never made it. The Coast Guard initially sent an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew and a cutter, but found no sign of the aircraft.
The weather conditions in the area were considered challenging, Hawaii News Now reported. Those onboard included the pilot and six passengers, the report said. Two of the six are minors.
The owner of the helicopter notified the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu, which dispatched search crews, according to a press release issued early Friday by the U.S. Coast Guard’s 14th District Hawaii and the Pacific.
A reporter at the station tweeted that the missing helicopter has an electronic locator, but there have not been any reports of signals being transmitted.
The Coast Guard planned to resume search flights with an HC-130 Hercules airplane and crew and a fresh Dolphin helicopter crew at first light Friday, around 7 a.m.
“The weather conditions are challenging,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cox, Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu. “We have trained crews responding and on scene searching for any signs of the helicopter and those aboard.”
Kauai is largely uninhabited, and includes a state park that is popular for helicopter tours.
