Tour Helicopter With 7 People On Board Missing In Hawaii, Search Operations Underway

The Coast Guard is searching for an "overdue" tour helicopter carrying seven people that had gone missing off the coast of Hawaii late Thursday.

The people on board consisted of one pilot and six passengers including two minors.

When the people failed to return from a tour of Kauai's Napali coast, the owner of the helicopter company reached out to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

"The weather conditions are challenging" with low visibility and blustery winds, CNN affiliate KHNL/KGMB quoted Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cox as saying. "We have trained crews responding and on scene searching for any signs of the helicopter and those aboard," Cox said in a news release.

The rain and clouds were keeping visibility to around 4 miles, and winds were 28 mph, as per the officials.

The Coast Guard was alerted around 6 p.m. about the missing Kauai-based helicopter, nearly 40 minutes after it failed to return on the scheduled time.

Although the aircraft is equipped with an electronic locator, no signals have yet been received. The searches are being conducted by crews using an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, a cutter, and other resources to locate the missing helicopter, CBS News reported.

Additional search efforts are scheduled at first light, the Coast Guard informed.