HONOLULU -- All five people onboard a tour helicopter died in the crash on Kauai Wednesday morning.
The chopper, operated by
Jack Harter Helicopters, set off on an 8:03 a.m. tour and did not return at its scheduled 9:05 a.m. arrival.
Only one person survived the crash initially. Rescue personnel tried to get the survivor airlifted out.
Kauai Fire Department participated in the search with its helicopter over the eastside and center of the Garden Isle.
The helicopter was still missing after several hours, according to company officials. Company officials would not elaborate on other details of the search.
A fire official said it went down in a crater that's known as "the wettest spot on Earth," Mount Waialeale. No word on the cause of the crash yet.
The helicopter is a Bell 206, or Bell Jet Ranger, that can seat up to four passengers and a pilot.
A. P. B. Services, Inc. has been hired to do the recovery work of the chopper. The company has been told to expect to remove the wreckage on Friday.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator has been dispatched to Hawaii from Los Angeles for the crash.
The company was founded by its namesake in 1962.
The last fatal tour helicopter crash on Kauai happened on June 25, 1998. A tour helicopter crashed in Mount Waialaeale also. A total of six people were killed.
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