NATION : Drug Patrollers Die in Air Crash
A Coast Guard radar plane returning from a patrol for drug smugglers caught fire and crashed early today near a U.S. naval station in Puerto Rico, killing all four men aboard.
They were the first deaths for the Coast Guard since it began drug-smuggling interdiction work in the 1970s.
The E-2C Hawkeye, a twin-engine turboprop radar aircraft, crashed about 500 yards from the runway at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station at 12:21 a.m., said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Karonis, a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami. The naval station is in a remote area on the east coast of Puerto Rico.
The crew was coming in for a landing after completing its patrol and reported to military air traffic controllers that there was a fire aboard the aircraft, Karonis said. The crew also reported hydraulic problems.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
