Swiss family die in helicopter crash in Hawaii

Four members of a Swiss family have perished in a helicopter crash in Hawaii on Thursday. The accident claimed the lives of all seven people on board.

On Saturday the Kauai police confirmed that there were no survivors. Besides the pilot, two American women and a Swiss family of four were on board the helicopter according to the flight documents.

The Swiss victims were a 50-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man and two children aged 10 and 13. Autopsies to formally identify the victims are in progress. The Swiss foreign ministry has not yet confirmed the death of the Swiss nationals.

“As we continue to search for and recover evidence pertinent to this tragic helicopter crash, we hope to bring some sense of closure to the loved ones of the victims,” said Kauai Deputy Police Chief Bryson Ponce in a statement.

The owner had reported the helicopter missing on Thursday after it failed to return from a sightseeing flight on the island of Kauai at the agreed time. It later turned out that the helicopter had crashed in the Koke’e State Park in a mountainous and difficult to access area.

The cause of the accident is still not clear. Police, firefighters and the coast guard participated in the rescue operation, which was complicated by fog and poor visibility. The recovery operation was suspended Saturday afternoon.