Coast Guard helicopter crashes in Hawaii, 3 dead

The victims are co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols. The Coast Guard is withholding the name of the missing crew member.Coast Guard officials said the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was out doing routine training with a boat at about 7:30 p.m. about 6 miles south of Honolulu International Airport."At about 8:15 p.m., the small boat and a passing Air Force C-17 transport aircraft observed our 65 helicopter going down into the water," said 14th Coast Guard District Commander Rear Adm. Manson Brown."Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of our helicopter crewmembers. "It's a terrible circumstance and we are bringing as many assets to bear to find our missing shipmate," Brown added.The C-17 circled the site until Honolulu fire rescue crews could get to the scene.The cause of the crash is under investigation.

HONOLULU -- Firefighters, police and state land officers joined the Coast Guard recovery efforts to search for a missing rescue team member.

"It's emotional. It hits home when we are working on a rescue that involves our peers," HFD Capt. Terry Seelig said.

Working on little sleep, crews set up a command center at Keehi Boat Harbor, searching past midnight and again at daylight. In total, 20 firefighters and state land officers in several boats and a helicopter joined the Coast Guard's efforts.

"We care deeply about these people and we are doing everything we can to support them in recovering their lost crew members," Seelig said.

Firefighters said the Coast Guard gives them search parameters based on the weather, ocean conditions and the debris field. Computer models predict where the wreckage is heading. The search area is 30-square nautical miles.

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The search continues around the clock for the fourth crewmember involved in Thursday's fatal Coast Guard helicopter crash.

The crew aboard the HH-65 Dolphin was conducting a search-and-rescue drill performed on a routine basis, and is usually staffed by three crewmembers. During the exercise, the helicopter lowers a basket down onto a deck of a vessel, and the crew onboard tries to maneuver the basket into a stable position so that the search and rescue victim can be put into the basket and hoisted safely away.

A preliminary investigation of the crash found that something may have gone wrong involving one of the wires on the basket.Thursday night's crash involved four, three of whom are dead and one of whom is missing.

HONOLULU -- A fund has been established for the families of the crew members who died in a helicopter crash.

Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols died Thursday night after their HH-65 Dolphin helicopter went down during routine training.Search teams are still looking for a missing fourth crewmember.

Donations can be sent to:
Coast Guard Foundation
394 Taugwonk Road
Stonington, CT 06378
People making a donation should state that they want their donation to go to the families of CG-6505.Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the helicopter to crash.

Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown said Sunday he had a "heavy heart" as he announced the search was over for Cmdr. Thomas Nelson of Staten Island, N.Y.

The Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department searched more than 3,000 square miles off Oahu for the 42-year-old pilot.

His HH-65 Dolphin helicopter went down Thursday during a search and rescue drill. The three other crew members were pulled from the water shortly afterwards but declared dead at a hospital.

The chopper's fuselage and data and voice recorder were recovered and are being examined to try and determine a cause of the crash.

Press Release

Date: Sept. 7, 2008 Contact: Public Affairs 808-535-3230

SUNDAY UPDATE: U.S. Coast Guard to suspend search for missing pilot; debris recovery to continue HONOLULU -- U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue crews plan to suspend the search for a Coast Guard pilot missing after an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed Thursday evening approximately five miles south of Honolulu International Airport. The pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, 42, of Staten Island, N.Y., went missing after the HH-65 crashed with three other crewmembers aboard during a training flight off the south shore of Oahu. The three crewmembers were recovered Thursday evening and pronounced dead at The Queen's Medical Center. "Coast Guard crews, with the generous assistance of our local, state and federal agency partners, have diligently searched around the clock since Thursday for our missing aviator, but I have decided to end our active search for Cmdr. Nelson," said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the Fourteenth Coast Guard District Commander. Nelson, who reported to Air Station Barbers Point in July 2007 to serve as the executive officer, joined the Coast Guard in 1988. The executive officer is the second in charge of a Coast Guard air station. Nelson most recently served as the Deputy Chief, Office of Security and Defense Operations, at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., from July 2004 to June 2007. Prior assignments included: Air Station Brooklyn, N.Y.; Air Station Port Angeles, Wash.; and Air Station New Orleans. Nelson also served as a deck watch officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Basswood. "Cmdr. Nelson's Coast Guard service of two decades demonstrates his unwavering commitment to the Coast Guard and to the protection of mariners across the country," said Brown. The Coast Guard and HFD crews searched an area of more than 3,000 square miles -- roughly five times the size of Oahu. Search crews on 91 different sorties (or patrols) scoured an area from shore to 40 miles out and from Barbers Point to Diamond Head.  On scene Saturday night and Sunday were crews aboard 41-foot and 47-foot motor lifeboats from Coast Guard Station Honolulu, aboard the Coast Guard patrol boats Kiska and Kittiwake, cutter Rush, an HH-65 and C-130 from Air Station Barbers Point and HFD crews aboard the Fire 1 helicopter, two small boats and two jet skis. Brown thanked HFD rescue crews as well as crews from the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Hawaii Air National Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, the state fire department at Honolulu International Airport and with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for assisting in the search. Over the weekend, the Coast Guard brought in air crews from Air Stations San Francisco, Humboldt Bay, Calif., and Kodiak, Alaska. The air crews are augmenting the staff at the 300-member Air Station Barbers Point to ensure the Coast Guard can answer distress calls and allow local Coast Guard members time to rest. Coast Guard crews continue to recover debris from the downed helicopter and are transporting the debris to the Coast Guard's Sand Island base. Investigative teams are in place to determine the cause of the accident. The cause of the accident is under investigation. The debris recovered from the search area will be gathered in a secure hangar at Hickam Air Force Base, where a Coast Guard investigative team from Washington, D.C., will try to determine the cause of the crash. The investigative team will begin examining the recovered debris Sunday evening.   ###