HONOLULU -- The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday morning released the names of three crew members who died in a helicopter crash Thursday night.

The Coast Guard, Honolulu Fire Department and Navy are searching for a crew member who was still missing

The three other crew members were found shortly after the crash, They were taken to Queen's Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

The victims are co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols. The Coast Guard is withholding the name of the missing crew member, who was the pilot.

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Coast Guard officials said the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was out doing routine training with a boat at about 7:30 p.m. about 6 miles south of Honolulu International Airport.

"At about 8:15 p.m., the small boat and a passing Air Force C-17 transport aircraft observed our 65 helicopter going down into the water," said 14th Coast Guard District Commander Rear Adm. Manson Brown.

"Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of our helicopter crewmembers. "It's a terrible circumstance and we are bringing as many assets to bear to find our missing shipmate," Brown added.

The C-17 circled the site until Honolulu fire rescue crews could get to the scene.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

By about 11 a.m., a Coast Guard ship pulled into Honolulu Harbor with some of the wreckage of the helicopter recovered at the scene.

Investigators will use it to try and determine what caused the aircraft to go down.

The three confirmed dead crewmembers are all husbands and fathers.

Wischmeier and Skimin both had teenaged children who live on the mainland with former wives. Family members said both also had a love of the sea, which drew them to careers in the Coast Guard.

Skimin described himself five years ago on YouTube feature on his life in Kodiak, AK, where he shaped surfboards and surfed in 40-degree water in the winter.

His brother described him as "free spirited." Skimin brought his love of surf to Hawaii. Two years ago, he bought a 50-foot sail boat. That was where friends of his wife Sally visited on Friday.

Wischmeier, a helicopter co-pilot, was from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. His ex wife, the mother of their 18-year-old son, said he loved the ocean.

"I know he enjoyed the Coast Guard. That's something he always loved to do is think of the water," she said.

Wischmeier's son went to Kalaheo High School last year and now lives in Florida.

Wischmeier was less than a year from retirement.

KITV was unable to reach the family of flight mechanic Nichols, who lived in Ewa Beach.