Search for pilot and passenger called off after tour helicopter crashes off Hawaii’s Kauai island

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — Authorities have called off the search for a tour helicopter pilot and one of his passengers after they crashed into the sea off the Hawaiian island of Kauai last week.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Kauai authorities said they called off the search on Sunday after searching hundreds of square kilometers for about 60 hours.

Ali’i Kauai Air Tours & Charters’ Robinson R44 helicopter carried the pilot and two passengers, a couple from Kentucky.

A hiker on the Kalalau Trail saw the helicopter crash into the water about 400 yards off the Na Pali coast on Thursday afternoon and called firefighters, officials said.

Lifeguards on watercraft recovered the body of one person Thursday while rescue crews searched for the other two. They also discovered what appeared to be an oil slick and some small floating debris, officials said.

It was the latest in a series of accidents that have plagued the air travel industry in recent years.

When authorities announced the call off of the search on Sunday, they identified the missing pilot as 69-year-old local resident Guy Croydon and the missing passenger as 60-year-old James Quintua. The passenger recovered after the crash was Amy Nichole Ruark Quintua, 53.

The Quintuas were from Union, Kentucky, Kauai officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.