By Rod Ohira
Honolulu Advertiser
SAND ISLAND, Hawaii — A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed last night during a search-and-rescue training exercise six miles off Sand Island, killing three of four crewmembers aboard.
Search efforts were continuing for the fourth crewmember.
“This is a very difficult case because rescuers are being rescued,” said Rear Adm. Manson Brown, 14th Coast Guard District commander.
Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said three of four people aboard the helicopter, which crashed about 8:15 p.m., were accounted for.
The Coast Guard said the three were recovered from the water by the Honolulu Fire Department and transported by another HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter to the Queen’s Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.
Brown said witnesses aboard a passing Air Force C-17 transport aircraft and Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat saw the Barbers Point-based helicopter go down. The helicopter and boat were doing “routine training,” Brown said.
Coast Guard officials said the last major crash of one of its rescue helicopters occurred in 1982 on Moloka’i.
The Coast Guard was notified of the crash by the FAA and launched a C-130 search plane from Air Station Barbers Point.
The inbound Air Force C-17 circled the crash site until a rescue boat from the Honolulu Fire Department could get on scene.
Fire, police and Navy personnel were assisting in the search for the crewmember.