Coast Guard, partner agencies searching for 2 people after a reported helicopter crash in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic Contact: 5th District Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6272 After Hours: (757) 295-8435 5th District online newsroom

Coast Guard, partner agencies searching for 2 people after a reported helicopter crash in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The Coast Guard and partner agencies are searching for two people from a reported downed helicopter in the vicinity of the Albemarle Sound, Tuesday.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center were notified by a concerned friend that they had lost all communication with the two people aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter at 6:40 p.m., Monday.

The two men departed from Mecklenburg Brunswick Regional Airport and planned to land at the Dare County Regional Airport the same evening.

At 10:46 a.m.,Tuesday, a good Samaritan recovered a backpack with personal belongings inside approximately 3.5 miles south of the mouth of the Alligator River. 

At 11:27 a.m., the Jayhawk aircrew discovered helicopter debris in the water approximately 9 miles north of the Alligator River Bridge in the Albemarle Sound. 

Searching are: 

• A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
• An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
• A 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City 
• A N.C. Marine Patrol boatcrew 
• N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission  
• Tyrell County Sheriff’s Department

*WORKING TO VERIFY* The cause of the incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.

-USCG-