US navy helicopter goes down off Virginia coast

• Four out of five crew members rescued, navy said

• Incident occurred 18 miles from naval base in Norfolk (US), VA

theguardian.com, Paul Lewis in Washington, Wednesday 8 January 2014

An MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter. Photograph: US navy

A US navy helicopter with five crew members on board crashed in the Atlantic off the coast of Virginia on Wednesday. The navy said four of the crew had been rescued, and efforts were under way to pick up the fifth.

The model involved was a Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon, one of the largest and heaviest helicopters in the US military, used in mine-hunting missions. The navy initially misidentified the helicopter a CH-53E Super Stallion, but subsequently released a correction.

The US navy has a base in Norfolk, Virginia, about 18 miles from the crash scene. The incident came a day after four crew members died when a US air force helicopter went down near a town on the coast of Norfolk, in the east of England. Local police said that incident occurred during a training exercise involving two US military aircraft, both HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters.

Navy petty officer David Weydert told the Associated Press that the helicopter involved in Wednesday’s crash in Virginia was reported down about 11am ET.

A Pentagon spokesperson said: "Five personnel were aboard and search and rescue efforts are ongoing. The helicopter is assigned to helicopter mine countermeasures squadron 14 from naval station Norfolk. It was conducting routine operations off the coast when the crash happened."

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