Marine from Minnesota Missing After Helicopter Collision near Hawaii

Honolulu fire, police and ocean safety officials are helping the Marines and the Coast Guard with the search for the 12 people who were aboard two Marine Corps helicopter that crashed during a nighttime training mission.

The Coast Guard was keeping people out of a wide zone that spanned about 30 miles of shoreline, from Kaena Point to Kahuku Point, citing danger from debris.

The Marine Corps hasn’t released the names of the missing servicemen. Sara Mooers, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard explained that the rescue efforts continued throughout the night both on sea and air, in spite of the fact that the weather made the search hard moving the debris all over the place.

“The coast guard is calculating drift rates where we might find them, and then we provide the guidance to helicopters, police, fire, Navy, and Coast Guard about where to conduct the search”, Adm. Vincent Atkins of the 14th Coast Guard District says.

At least two Alabama residents are among the dozen Marines missing after two military helicopters collided off the coast of Hawaii Thursday.

There was no immediate word on what had caused the collision or if any survivors have been found.

“I pray to the man upstairs to help them”.

“We believe the Marines and Coast Guard are doing everything they can to bring Kevin and his fellow Marines home safely, and we are grateful to everyone involved in the rescue”, read a family statement distributed by brother-in-law Anthony Kuenzel in St. Louis, Missouri.

The helicopters were from the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadrom 463, part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing that is based in Kaneohe Bay.

Marine officials contacted the Coast Guard about the missing aircraft around 11 p.m. (4 a.m. Friday ET), Mooers said.

The helicopters normally carry four crew members, but this particular flight also carried one or two instructor trainers, Capt Irish said.

Search crews may be fighting large waves as they attempt to locate the passengers. Winds were expected to be relatively calm at 10 miles per hour or less.

“That is moving that debris all over the place”, Capt Carr said.

One was Captain Kevin Roche, whose family released a statement hoping for his return and offering thanks for the report they received following the news.