Debris From Downed Army Helicopter Found Off O‘ahu

Coast Guard and Army personnel responded last night to a report of a downed Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with five crew members aboard.

Two Black Hawk aircrews were reportedly conducting training between Kaʻena Point on O‘ahu’s North Shore and Dillingham Airfield at the time communications were lost sometime after 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Command Center in Honolulu received a call at 10:08 p.m. Tuesday from personnel at Wheeler Army Airfield stating they lost communications with one of their UH-60 Black Hawk aircrews. Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of response assets.

A debris field was spotted near Kaʻena Point off Oʻahu by responding crews at around 11:28 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017.

Responders are currently searching for the five missing air crewmen.

The DLNR Division of State Parks has temporarily closed all of Ka‘ena Point State Park during active search operations for a missing U.S. Army helicopter. No vehicle, foot, or bicycle traffic is allowed on roads and trails through either the Mokulēʻia or the Keawa‘ula Sections of the park until further notice.

Assets responding to the incident include the following:

• HC-130 Hercules airplane aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
• MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
• Coast Guard Cutter Ahi (WPB 87364) and crew, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Honolulu
• 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu
• UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aircrew from Wheeler Army Airfield
• Shore patrol and a boatcrew from the Honolulu Fire Department