A TOURIST helicopter carrying seven people – including two kids – has vanished during a trip to a Hawaiian island featured in Jurassic Park. The US Coast Guard said it was searching for “any signs of the helicopter and those aboard in challenging weather conditions”. The aircraft is equipped with an electronic locator, but no […]
A TOURIST helicopter carrying seven people – including two kids – has vanished during a trip to a Hawaiian island featured in Jurassic Park.
The US Coast Guard said it was searching for “any signs of the helicopter and those aboard in challenging weather conditions”.
The aircraft is equipped with an electronic locator, but no signals have been received today.
The Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu said that the owner of an overdue tour helicopter alerted it at 6.06pm (local time) to say there was no sign of the aircraft, which was scheduled to return at 5.21pm.
Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cox said the helicopter went missing off Kauai’s Na Pali Coast.
Nearly 80 per cent of Kauai is uninhabited, and much of that is a state park – the home of the Manawaiopuna Falls, otherwise known as ‘Jurassic Park Falls’.
This waterfall was made famous in one of the opening scenes of the 1993 blockbuster film, Jurassic Park.
The only way to see the 400ft-high falls is by chopper, as it’s “tucked on private land in a highly inaccessible, undeveloped area”, according to tourist operators.
Mr Cox added: “The weather conditions are challenging. We have trained crews responding and on scene searching for any signs of the helicopter and those aboard.”
A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and crew from the Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point have been searching the scene.
They will be joined by a HC-130 Hercules airplane at first light tomorrow, said Mr Cox.
However, the search has been hampered by tricky weather conditions, with visibility down to four miles due to clouds and rain, while winds are at 28 mph.
