The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into a helicopter crash at a Navy missile facility in Hawaii that killed four civilian contractors Tuesday.
The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-61N, went down about 10 a.m. Tuesday near the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai. The helicopter, owned by an Oregon-based company, was used to retrieve material used in ocean testing, officials said.
According to local media reports, the victims of the crash also worked for the company.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Democrat, said she would be speaking with missile facility officials about what happened and would be closely following the NTSB investigation into the fatal crash.
“My heart goes out to the families of the four individuals who were killed,” Ms. Hirono tweeted.