4 Dead in Helicopter Crash During Navy Training Operation

The US Navy said Tuesday four people have died in the crash of a contractor’s helicopter on the Hawaii island of Kauai, the AP reports. The Pacific Missile Range Facility said the aircraft crashed on the north side of the installation shortly after 10am. There were no survivors. The names of those killed were not yet available, it said. The helicopter was being flown by Croman Corp. in support of a training operation, the missile range facility said in a news release. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet the agency is investigating the crash of the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter.

A Kauai County spokesperson said county police and firefighters responded and were assisting the military. Kauai police were helping the Navy with perimeter security and investigation support, said Coco Zickos, a county spokesperson. An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the crash, the missile range facility release said. The Pacific Missile Range Facility is a Navy base on the western edge of Kauai where the military tests missile defense technology and various units conduct exercises. (Also Tuesday, two helicopters collided during a Utah National Guard training exercise hundreds of yards from a ski resort, but no one was injured.)