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U.S. NEWS Saturday 28 december 2019
Search expands for missing

Hawaii tour chopper carrying 7

By CALEB JONES improves simply because "There are beaches along
Associated Press we have daylight," Muir the Na Pali coastline, but
HONOLULU (AP) — Rescu- said. we are experiencing peri-
ers resumed searching Fri- Local fire officials planned ods of very high water, so
day for a tour helicopter to launch their own search exactly how much beach
carrying seven people that efforts. Commercial he- may be available I couldn't
disappeared during a trip licopter companies and tell you," Muir said.
to one of the most rugged ATV crews were also being Helicopter tours are com- This photo provided by the Hawaii department of Land and Nat-
and remote coastlines in deployed. mon above the island of ural Resources shows an area over Napali Coast State Wilder-
Hawaii. Towering mountains and Kauai, much of which is ness Park where search and rescue are searching for a tour He-
A search that began Thurs- steep, deep ravines and made up of remote state licopter that disappeared in Hawaii with several people aboard
day night was expanded cliffs line the coast. parks.q on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019. Associated Press
Friday morning, but the
steep terrain, low visibil-
ity, choppy seas and rain
made the effort challeng-
ing, the Coast Guard said.
"Those conditions are not
ideal," Coast Guard Chief
Petty Officer Sara Muir said.
Rescue teams were "look-
ing for any sign of the he-
licopter both on land and
in the water and along the
coastline."
The helicopter company,
identified as Safari Helicop-
ters, contacted the Coast
Guard about 45 minutes
after the aircraft was due
back from a tour of Kauai's
Na Pali Coast on Thursday
evening, a Coast Guard
statement said.
The Eurocopter AS350 he-
licopter took off from the
town of Lihue, Federal Avia-
tion Administration spokes-
man Ian Gregor said.
The helicopter has an elec-
tronic locator, but no sig-
nals had been received,
according to the Coast
Guard.
The chopper was carry-
ing a pilot and six passen-
gers, two of whom were
believed to be minors, the
Coast Guard said.
Clouds and rain at the
scene limited visibility to 4
miles (6.4 kilometers), with
winds at 28 mph (45 kph).
Friday's forecast predicted
winds were at about 23
mph (37 kph).
A rescue helicopter and
crew was launched from
Coast Guard Air Station
Barbers Point, and addi-
tional support was provid-
ed by the Navy Helicopter
Maritime Strike Squadron
37 at Kaneohe Bay. A
Coast Guard cutter and
crew were also launched
from Honolulu.
"We're looking forward to
first light when our visibility