MCAS helicopter crashed; four dead, one injured
BY JOYCE LOBECK, SUN STAFF WRITER
August 17, 2007
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE - Three Marines and one sailor are dead and one Marine injured after a helicopter from the Yuma Marine base crashed 20 miles north of Yuma near the Colorado river, according to a military official.
The accident involved a search and rescue helicopter that crashed late Thursday afternoon while returning from a routine training flight near the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. The crashed helicopter was one of four in the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron at Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma.
The names of the dead and injured are being withheld for 24 hours until the families of the victims are notified.
Four military were pronounced dead at the scene at 12:30 a.m. today, said 1st Lt. Rob Dolan, MCAS public affairs officer. The bodies are being taken to Naval Medical facilities.