The U.S. Coast Guard has expanded its search for the missing pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter that crashed in waters five miles off Honolulu Airport Thursday night, killing three of four crewmen.

The 378-foot Coast Guard cutter Rush, with its crew of some 140, took command of a staging area located about 15 miles out to sea. Honolulu Fire Department personnel continued their boat and helicopter search closer to the crash site.

Meanwhile, a Coast Guard spokesman said debris pertinent to the search was discovered this afternoon in the area where rescuers believe the pilot could have drifted.

But it was unclear what was found.

"Whether or not we will detail what that debris is remains to be seen," said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Titchen, who had earlier said the focus of yesterday's search was an all-out effort to locate the pilot while he could still be alive.

"As long as we've got a chance of survivability we're going to saturate the area," said Titchen. "That's really what we're doing today. This is one of those rare cases where we've got a specific location and very accurate information where he would drift from."

A Honolulu Fire Department rescue boat, helicopter and the department's fireboat were dispatched at 5:43 a.m. today to join the the search for the missing crew member.

Crews from U.S. Coast Guard units in Hawaii continued searching Friday night and throughout the early morning hours today.

The Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crashed Thursday night five miles south of Honolulu International Airport. Three of the four crew members aboard were killed during the crash and the fourth remains missing.

Coast Guard search crews aboard the 87-foot patrol boat Kittiwake, two HH-65s from Air Station Barbers Point and two 25-foot small boats from the Marine Safety and Security Team Honolulu will continue to search an area roughly 10 by 13 miles in the middle of Mamala Bay on the South Shore of Oahu.

There have been no other significant signs of debris since the fuselage of the helicopter was brought to shore at the Coast Guard's Sand Island base at approximately 1 p.m. Friday, the Coast Guard said.

The search for the missing fourth crew member will continue as long as there is a reasonable chance of survival, said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District headquartered in Honolulu.

"We are bringing as many assets to bear as we can," said Brown, who commands 29 operational units in the Pacific, including the 300-member Air Station Barbers Point at Ewa Beach on Oahu. "The entire Coast Guard grieves with the families of our lost air crew members and we will continue the search for our missing Coast Guardsman," Brown said in a news release.

The crew of the 87-foot patrol boat Ahi relieved the Kittiwake's crew this morning in the search area, and the 378-foot patrol boat Rush has been recalled from a law enforcement trip to American Samoa to aid in the search as well. Embarked aboard the Rush is an HH-65 Dolphin and air crew, which also joined the search today.

The weather on scene last night was reported to be "calm" by searchers, with winds out of the east at 10 knots and seas of four to six feet.