Search continues for downed US Black Hawk
The US Coast Guard is continuing its search for a missing US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aircrew.
The US Coast Guard is continuing its search for a missing US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aircrew. Two helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade were out on a routine night time mission on 15 August at around 21:30 hrs, when one lost visual and radio contact from the other off the coast of Hawaii. The two pilots and three air crew members on board are currently still missing, as is the helicopter.
The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Honolulu firefighters joined the Coast Guard in searching an area up to 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Hawaii. Some wreckage of the helicopter was located early on 16 August, including parts of the fuselage. Among the aircraft searching is a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point, an Army aircrew, and boats from the Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department.
Lt Cornel Curtis Kellogg, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said on 17 August that the investigation was still a highly active search and rescue operation. “We constantly have assets in the air and on the water searching for the aircrew and recovering debris,” he added.
Lt Scot Carr, Coast Guard 14th District spokesperson, was also keen to add how active the investigation still was. He also announced that a safety zone had been established around the majority of the core search area, meaning boaters are unable to enter the zone without permission.
“There are Coast Guard helicopters that are operating around the clock, along with Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft and Navy P3 aircraft,” he said of the search mission.