A private helicopter with five people on board crashed into Hawaii’s Pearl Harbour on Thursday, officials said.
A teenager passenger is in a critical condition while a female passenger (45) and a male passenger (50) were taken to hospital in a stable condition. Details on the two other people on board, including the pilot, were not immediately available.
US Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan said the Bell 206 aircraft made a hard landing and sank near the Pearl Harbor Visitor Centre, a popular tourist destination on Oahu island.
The names of the five people on board were not immediately released.
"We are told bystanders jumped in to help rescue these patients from the water," said Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
Tour guide Chris Gardner was with a group at the island's visitor centre when he heard the crash.
“I took off my shirt and dove in,” Mr Gardner said, describing how he, a Navy sailor, a federal police officer and another man took turns diving to the submerged helicopter, trying to free the teenage passenger with a knife.
Mr Gardner said the teenager was trapped in his seat at the back of the aircraft and they eventually freed him. “It was a team effort and we pray that he’s okay,” he said.
The helicopter crashed about 20 feet offshore, right next to the visitor centre’s lawn, said tourist Justice Winrich. She watched as it “plopped down” into the water.
“I saw it like as it was coming in, and it looked pretty normal. It didn’t look like it was shaking or anything,” Ms Winrich said. “It just started like getting really close this way and started going down.”
As it got closer to the water, she saw some dark smoke coming out of the back of the helicopter, and it started shaking slightly.
Ms Winrich saw three people get out of the helicopter immediately and start swimming to shore.
“I was like, oh my God, I can’t believe this just happened. It was crazy. You go on vacation and you never think you’re going to see something like that,” she said.
Her father, Shawn Winrich, caught the crash on video. His footage shows the helicopter heading toward the water and then crashing down. The blades stop spinning as it turns over in the water.
Allan Seiden, a local, watched as the helicopter’s occupants were carried away on stretchers.
“People were very calm. ... You could tell everyone was very shocked,” he said.
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. A website for Genesis Helicopters says it conducts helicopter tours over Oahu and that Gebhard started Genesis in 1999.
Operations at the visitor centre, including visits to the nearby USS Arizona Memorial, were suspended, the Navy said. The memorial honours the 1,177 sailors and marines killed on the ship in the December 7th, 1941, attack by Japan.
Partial operations at the visitor centre will resume Friday, the National Park Service said. The theatre and boat trips to the Arizona Memorial will be suspended until further notice. The visitor centre grounds, museums, snack shop and bookstore will be open.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators were on their way to the crash site. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was expected to arrive Friday.
Agencies