The World : Marine Copter Crashes

A Marine helicopter crashed at sea during night training operations off the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, and 14 of the 22 Marines aboard are missing, a U.S. military spokesman said in Japan. Of the eight Marines rescued, four were injured. The CH-46 copter, based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, had taken off from the Navy vessel Denver off Okinawa, the spokesman reported. According to a Marine spokesman in Washington, the helicopter then “pitched over to the right and went into the water inverted.” The cause of the crash was under investigation. The victims’ names were withheld pending notification of relatives.