(Source: Pixabay)

HONOLULU (AP) - U.S. Coast Guard and military crews are searching the ocean off Hawaii for five crewmembers of an Army helicopter that reportedly went down during a training exercise, authorities said Wednesday. Coast Guard Hercules and Army Black Hawk aircrews spotted debris near Kaena Point, Oahu at 11:28 pm local time after staff at Wheeler Army Airfield said they had lost contact with one of their UH-60 Black Hawk aircrews, the Coast Guard said. The aircraft was last pinpointed to be about two miles west of Kaena Point on Oahu - near where a debris field has been spotted by other Black Hawk aircrews and a Coast Guard Hercules. A Coast Guard plane, two helicopters and several boats were being used in the search across an area with light winds and 2-foot (0.6-meter) seas. Two UH-60 Black Hawk crews were conducting training between Kaena Point and Oahu's Dillingham Airfield late Tuesday when one aircrew lost contact with the other, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The UH-60 Black Hawk went missing when another Army helicopter training with it lost visual and radio contact about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Col. Curtis Kellogg, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division. Another helicopter, also a part of the Army's 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, was also taking part in the exercise. The UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine utility helicopter manufactured for the Army by Sikorsky Aircraft starting in the 1970s.
A United States Army Combat Aviation Brigade UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashes off the coast of Hawaii, with five people on board. A United States Coast Guard-led search for the missing is underway.