UPDATE: Crews Respond to Report of Downed Aircraft off Molokai

Update: 4 p.m. 12.31.16

The Maui Fire Department has been involved in the search from 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2016, for a Cessna 172 aircraft with three people onboard that left from Molokai Airport on the evening of Dec. 30, 2016, bound for Honolulu.

The aircraft dropped off radar about two miles north/northeast of Ilio Point, located on the northwest corner of Molokai.

MFD is assisting the Coast Guard and has been using the department’s Air 1 helocopter and personnel from Rescue 10 (out of Kahului) to search the near-shore areas where the aircraft was last reported.

Searches have been conducted along the north and northeast coasts of Molokai from Ilio Point to Kalaupapa.

The search patterns also extend two miles out from the shoreline while Coast Guard assets have been conducting the search patterns from two miles out and further.

A search of the land area between the Molokai Airport and Ilio Point has also been conducted.

The search has been slightly hampered by rain, wind, and cloud cover, but MFD’s search will continue as long as weather conditions permit and sunlight remains.

Update: 12.31.16

The search for a possible downed aircraft with three people aboard near Ilio Point, Molokai, continues Saturday.

The search now extends up to 17 miles northeast of Ilio Point.

Missing are: Michael Childers, pilot, and two passengers John Mizuno and Whitney Thomas. They were flying in a Cessna with tail number N174LL.

Crews currently engaged in the search are:
– HC-130 Hercules airplane and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
– Crew of USCGC Kittiwake (WPB-87316) from Honolulu
– Air and surface assets from Molokai Fire Department and Maui County Fire Department

Aircrews from Air Station Barbers Point have deployed three self-locating datum marker buoys to aid in the search.

Weather in the area is reported as 23 mph winds with waves at 6 to 8 feet and scattered showers.

At 7 p.m., Friday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received a call from personnel at the Honolulu Control Facility stating a Cessna with three people aboard reportedly disappeared from radar while enroute from Molokai airport to Honolulu.

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The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a possible downed aircraft with three people aboard approximately four miles east of Ilio Point, Molokai, Friday.

Responding are an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Oahu, the USCGC Kittiwake (WPB 87316) an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in Honolulu, and crews from the Molokai Police Department and the National Parks Service.

At 7 p.m., watchstanders at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received a call from personnel at the Honolulu Control Facility stating a Cessna 172 with three people aboard reportedly disappeared from radar while enroute from Molokai airport to Honolulu.

Weather on scene was reported to be winds at approximately 19 mph, 4 to 6 foot seas, 3,000 foot ceiling and poor visibility.

More information will be released once it becomes available.

The search continues for a possible downed aircraft with three people aboard approximately 17 miles northeast of Ilio Point, Molokai, Dec. 31, 2016. Crews from the USCGC Kittiwake (WPB-87316) from Honolulu, an HC-130 Hercules airplane and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point are searching the area. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Released)

The search continues for a possible downed aircraft with three people aboard approximately 17 miles northeast of Ilio Point, Molokai, Dec. 31, 2016. Crews from the USCGC Kittiwake (WPB-87316) from Honolulu, an HC-130 Hercules airplane and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point are searching the area. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Released)

Coast guard logo. Maui Now.