Finding helicopter that crashed on Hawaii mountain took multiple agencies
A hiker was about a mile and a half up the Nualolo Trail in the Koke State Park in Hawaii, struggling with rain and fog and hampered by a visibility of about 20 feet, when he heard what sounded like the high-pitched whine of a helicopter in distress. Knowing that something was wrong, he tried to find the helicopter but couldn’t due to the adverse weather conditions and fading daylight.
That aircraft wasn’t located until the next day – December 27, 2019 – and it took the combined efforts of the US Coast Guard, the Kauai Fire Department, the Kauai Police Department, the Civil Air Patrol, the Hawaii Air National Guard and Safari Helicopters to find the accident site, which was nearly 3,000 feet above sea level in tropical mountainous terrain.