HONOLULU — The Coast Guard has expanded its search for five crew members of a downed Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the ocean off the coast of Hawaii more than four days ago.
Officials said in a statement Sunday that their search area has covered about 68,000 square nautical miles. There have been no signs of life or of the missing crew, they said, but significant debris from the helicopter has been recovered.
The search began about two miles west of Oahu on Tuesday night and expanded to over 160 miles off shore by Sunday. Strong currents have spread debris throughout the remote and deep area of ocean.
The leading edge of the search radius is now south of Niihau, the westernmost inhabited island in the main Hawaiian chain.
