LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), together with other departments, on Wednesday continued to search for five people on board a helicopter which crashed near Hawaii.
According to a statement released Wednesday evening by the USCG, the authorities have deployed two planes, four helicopters and at least two ships in the search, but so far "none of the aviators have been located."
USCG spokeswoman Tara Molle told Xinhua earlier that an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with five crew aboard fell down approximately 2 miles (3.4 km) west of Ka'ena Point, Oahu island of Hawaii on Tuesday night.
"We received a call at 10:08 p.m. (0808 GMT) Tuesday," she said, "and the debris has been found 11:28 p.m. (0928 GMT), we are searching for personnel on board."
The helicopter took off from Wheeler Army Airfield, she added.
The latest press release confirmed that debris has been spotted and recovered near Ka'ena Point, but it should be considered hazardous material, so that it "should only be recovered by recovery teams with the proper training and personal protective equipment."
Moreover, a joint command post has been established to coordinate search and rescue efforts.
It is the second crash accident of U.S. Army's UH-60 helicopter in half a year. In April, a Black Hawk from Fort Belvoir of Virginia crashed on a southern Maryland golf course, killing one crew member and injuring two others.
