Two crewmen have died, the Navy says, after one of its helicopters crashed during a training mission off the coast of Virginia Wednesday.
The Navy said in a statement that an MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter had gone into the waters off Virginia Beach near Fort Story.
Four crew members were pulled from the ocean after the crash, but two later died at a nearby hospital. The identity of the dead crewmen will not be released until 24 hours after families have been notified, according to The Associated Press.
The extent of their injuries and the identities of the other crewmen were not known, the Navy said. The accident is under investigation while a search and rescue operation is underway for a fifth missing crew member.
Navy Spokesman Cmdr. Mike Kafka told the Virginian-Pilot that two MH-53 Sea Dragons were flying on a training mission when one of them had to make an emergency landing. The second Sea Dragon dropped a raft into the water to help the crew members, while the Coast Guard cutter Shearwater and two MH-60S helicopters are also assisting in the recovery.
The MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter is nearly 100 feet in length and can travel at speeds of up to 172 mph, according to a description on the Navy's website. Its primary use is to transfer heavy equipment.
The Navy had planned to start phasing out the MH-53E Sea Dragon model in the mid-2000s, but kept them flying since they didn’t have a viable replacement, the Virginian-Pilot reports. Instead, the Navy invested millions to upgrade and better maintain the aircraft, as well as to hire additional maintenance personnel.
Twenty-nine of the helicopters still remain in service and are assigned to two Norfolk-based squadrons.
The crash comes a day after a fatal U.S. Air Force helicopter accident on the other side of the Atlantic.
On Tuesday, four crewmen were killed when their HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter went down during a training mission in the Cley coastal area of Norfolk County in England.
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