Hawaii Helicopter Crash: Search Expands For 5 Crew Members

HONOLULU, HI — A Coast Guard search for five crew members of a downed Army Black Hawk helicopter off the coast of Hawaii expanded to an area covering about 68,000 square nautical miles.

There have been no signs of life or of the missing crew, officials said, but significant debris from the helicopter has been recovered.

The search began about two miles west of Oahu on Tuesday night and expanded to over 160 miles off shore by Sunday. Debris drifted to remote parts of the ocean because of strong currents. The leading edge of the search radius is now south of Niihau, the westernmost inhabited island in the main Hawaiian chain. (For more information on the crash and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Photos credit: U.S. Coast Guard via AP, Marco Garcia/Associated Press