In the minutes before a Coast Guard helicopter crashed last night, the line used to lower a rescue basket to the sea apparently malfunctioned, said Rear Adm. Manson Brown, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Commander, in a news conference today.

It's unclear whether the line contributed to the helicopter's crash, however.

Three crew members were killed in the crash, and one person remains missing.

The U.S. Coast Guard has identified three air crew members who were killed during the training flight five miles south of Honolulu International Airport.

The crew members were identified as: Co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin, 38, of San Bernardino, Calif.; and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols, 27, of Gloucester, Va.

The Coast Guard, Honolulu Fire Department and other agencies are out in force — covering a 10-mile by 13-mile search area — for the remaining crewman, whose identity has not been released.

The helicopter crashed about 8:15 p.m.

The fuselage of the helicopter has been retrieved, Brown said, and will be stored until Coast Guard investigators arrive from the Mainland to examine it.

In the news conference today, Brown extended his support and sympathies to the families of the crewmen on board the helicopter.

He said the tight-knit Coast Guard family in the Islands and across the country is in mourning.

"Losing a fellow Coastie is like losing a child," Brown said. "It's an indescribable feeling."

The three crewmen were pronounced dead last night at The Queen's Medical Center.

The three had been recovered by HFD small boats and transferred to another Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter for transport to the hospital.

"Our hearts go out to their loved ones during this difficult time," said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen from Washington, D.C., in an e-mail message to all service members. "The entire Coast Guard will provide whatever support services are necessary for the families and crew of Air Station Barbers Point."

Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, commander of the 14th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Honolulu, said, "We grieve for our lost Coast Guardsmen and continue a diligent search for our missing aviator. Coast Guard missions — even training missions — are inherently dangerous, and this aircrew was performing a drill in the weather conditions we are called into when we rescue others. It's a terrible loss."

The accident is the first fatal Coast Guard aviation mishap in Hawai'i since 1982.

The crash occurred while the crew of the HH-65 was performing small boat hoists with a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Honolulu. This routine exercise prepares aircrews — and boat crews — for hoisting injured persons from a boat to the aircraft.