Search for 12 Marines continues after Hawaii helicopter crash

What’s making the search for survivors so critical, the surf on Oahu’s North Shore is expected to be the most intense of the season – 30-40 feet high, beginning Friday morning, according to KHNL. All 12 crew members were still missing Friday.

Choppy seas, with 20 foot (six meter) swells, are hampering the search for 12 United States Marines off the coast of Hawaii.

The Coast Guard initially said the choppers collided.

First responders near the Hawaiian island of Oahu were manoeuvring through fire and debris about two miles north of Haleiwa Beach, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Marine officials contacted the Coast Guard about the missing aircraft, and it deployed a helicopter.

The Coast Guard uses what’s called the Probability of Survival Decision Aid to gauge survival time he said, explaining that they factor in air temperature, water temperature, sea conditions and humidity, along with details about the victims.

“Thoughts & prayers are with our Marines & their families in Hawaii as search efforts continue”, General Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a message on Twitter.

“I pray to the man upstairs to help them”. Their names have not been released.

Brig. Gen. Russell Sanborn, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing’s commanding general, said during the press conference that the CH-53Es were likely not equipped with the types of beacons found aboard civilian aircraft. But Marine spokesman Capt. Timothy Irish says he’s not sure they collided because an investigation into the crash hasn’t been completed.

The helicopters usually carry four crew members, but this flight carried a couple of instructors as well. “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”.

Teams are expanding their search for 12 Marines missing after a helicopter crash to include Oahu’s western coast.

Navy destroyers Gridley and John Paul Jones are taking part in search and rescue efforts along with the Coast Guard cutter Kiska and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, officials said.

A Honolulu Fire Department rescue boat also is searching.