Caught on video: 1 hurt after copter crash by Pearl Harbor
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- A private helicopter with five people on board crashed Thursday into Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, leaving one person in critical condition, officials said.
The Bell 206 aircraft made a hard landing and sank near the USS Arizona Memorial, a popular tourist destination on Oahu, said U.S. Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan.
Federal records show the helicopter is registered to Jeffrey Gebhard of Kailua, Hawaii. He couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
The Navy said in a statement that "the helicopter reportedly belongs to Genesis Aviation." The company website says it conducts helicopter tours of Oahu.
The names of the five people on board were not immediately released.
The person in critical condition is a 15-year-old boy, ABC News has learned. Two more passengers, a 50-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, were treated by EMS and taken to a hospital. They were described as stable.
"We are told bystanders jumped in to help rescue these patients from the water," said Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
Amber Moncrieff, a tourist from Australia, says she was visiting Pearl Harbor when she heard a couple of loud bangs and realized a helicopter had crashed into the water.
Moncrieff says boats seemed to come from everywhere.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators were on their way to the crash site, and the National Transportation Safety Board has been informed, FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford said.
It was the second major crash this year involving helicopters on Oahu.
Twelve Hawaii-based Marines were killed when two helicopters military crashed during nighttime training on Jan. 14. Both aircraft were CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters that were part of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463.
