HONOLULU — Coast Guard and military crews searched the ocean off Hawaii on Wednesday for five people aboard an Army helicopter that went down during a nighttime training exercise.

Officials at Wheeler Army Airfield near Honolulu reported losing communications around 10 p.m. Tuesday with the crew of a UH-60 Black Hawk, the Coast Guard said.

Responding teams spotted a debris field about 2 miles west of Kaena Point, Oahu, shortly before 11:30 p.m.

Honolulu Fire Department crews found parts of a fuselage and a helmet in the debris field, Captain David Jenkins said.

Two Black Hawk crews were conducting training between Kaena Point and Oahu’s Dillingham Airfield northwest of Honolulu when communications were lost, officials said. Clouds and a few showers were in the area at the time.

Night training offshore is routine, said Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Kellogg, public affairs officer for the Army’s 25th Infantry Division.

The search began immediately after one air crew lost visual and video contact with the other helicopter, Kellogg said.

The two helicopters are elements of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

ASSOCIATED PRESS