Rescuers in Hawaii intensified their search on Friday for a missing tour helicopter with seven people aboard as daybreak hit the island of Kauai, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The owner of the helicopter reported on Thursday evening that the aircraft, whose six passengers included two children, was overdue returning from a tour of the Na Pali Coast, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The Na Pali Coast, with its jagged green cliffs soaring from the blue Pacific Ocean, is among the most visited places by air and sea on Kauai, the western-most inhabited island in the Hawaiian chain.
At first light, the Coast Guard said it was deploying an HC-130 Hercules airplane an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from the air, and the Cutter William Hart and a response boat from the sea.
Joining the search will be a U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter, the Kauai National Guard and the Kauai Fire Department, which will use its helicopter to search the shoreline and inland canyons, it said.
High winds may hamper search efforts, with the forecast calling for winds around 28 mph (45 kph), waves at 7 feet (2.1 meters) and scattered rain showers, the Coast Guard said.
The missing helicopter was equipped with an electronic locator but no signals had been received, it said.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported in June that there were eight accidents in Hawaii over the past five years involving tour helicopters.
The NTSB report was made after a tour helicopter crashed in a residential neighbourhood on Oahu in April, killing three people.
