COORECTION: 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

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

Editor's note: This release was issued to update hours searched and address inaccuracies in a previously issued press release. 

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 Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center were notified by a concerned friend that lost communication with the two people aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter at 6:40 p.m., Monday. Watchstanders launched air and surface assets to search the Ablemarle Sound where the aircraft was last observed. 

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 and personal belongings near the mouth of the Alligator River. 

At 11:27 a.m., the MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew discovered helicopter debris in the water in the vicinity 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 
• N.C. Marine Patrol 
• N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission  
• Tyrell County Sheriff’s Department

-USCG-