Bodies found on beach after chopper crash with Louisiana soldiers

An Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter has crashed in the Florida Panhandle, and seven Marines and four soldiers are missing.

Some confirmed human remains have washed ashore in the area where crews are searching for the missing, a spokesman for the Eglin Air Force Base told the Washington Post on Wednesday morning.

“We have confirmed that we have had some human remains wash ashore in the area where our search and rescue team have begun a larger scale operation,” Andrew Bourland said, adding that debris from the aircraft has also washed ashore.

The helicopter is believed to have gone down in the water and foggy conditions were reported in the area at the time of the crash, though it is too soon to say what might have caused the mishap.

According to a Pentagon official who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press, nearly 12 hours after the craft was reported missing, all 11 service members are presumed dead. However, the efforts are still considered a search and rescue operation at this time, Bourland said.

Foggy conditions in the search area have made the operation more difficult, Bourland told the Post. But with dawn breaking, efforts are expected to ramp up.

“We’ve got some daylight, but it is overcast and quite foggy,” Bourland said. “It is having an impact on getting the full scale rescue moving now.”

The helicopter carrying highly trained Marines in a special operations unit, was on a night training mission outside the base, which is near Valparaiso, Fla. It was reported missing at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, and debris from the crash was found at about 2:00 a.m. Wednesday on an inland stretch of beach between Pensacola and Destin. The military owns miles of beach in the area, which are typically used for training missions.

The Marines are part of a Camp Lejeune-based special operations group and the soldiers are from an Army National Guard unit based out of Hammond, La.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Marines, soldiers and family members of those involved in this mishap. We are working closely with all parties involved to locate our Marines and the Army aircrew as soon as possible,” Major Gen. Joseph Osterman, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command said in a statement.

The downed helicopter was one of two on the mission. The base said the “second helicopter and its personnel on board have returned and are accounted for at this time.”

“Names of the aircrew and Marines on board are being withheld pending [next of kin] notification,” read the statement posted by the base. “The accident is under investigation. Additional details will be provided as they become available.”

Wednesday 11 March 2015

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