Four people have died in a helicopter crash at a U.S. Naval Facility in Hawaii.
On Tuesday, all four people on board a 58-foot-long Sikorsky S-61N helicopter died. The helicopter was being operated by Oregon-based military contractor company called Croman Corporation during a training mission. The New York Times reports that all four people were Croman workers; their mission took place at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai Island.
The mission was “conducting routine training operations under contract to the U.S. Navy,” says Brian Beattie, an operations director at the company. The news outlet reports that something went wrong while the helicopter was trying to drop an object that it picked up from the water. People who saw the crash said they saw the aircraft suddenly going down. It then took a right turn and hit the runway.
According to a tweet from the National Transportation Safety Board, the incident is now being investigated. “NTSB is investigating the Feb. 22, 2022, crash of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter near Kekaha, Hawaii,” the tweet reads.
None of the victims’ names have been released.
