Marine Copter Crashes at Sea; 4 Are Missing
A U.S. Marine helicopter from Camp Pendleton crashed at sea Sunday off the Somalia coast with 18 people on board, the U.S. Navy command announced. Fourteen were rescued, but four were missing, officials said.
Four of the survivors suffered burns, said Chief John Kenney from the Navy Central Command. They were flown to Germany for medical treatment.
Names of those aboard the helicopter were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Kenney said the helicopter was a CH-46E Sea Knight from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is composed of Marines from Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps Air Station at Tustin.
At Camp Pendleton, officials were busy Sunday answering telephone calls from concerned family members.
“It always happens when something like this occurs,” Marine spokesman Lt. Kevin Bentley said. “They want to know if their loved ones were aboard, but it’s just too early.”
The group was in transit from the Gulf of Arabia to Mombasa, Kenya, for a scheduled port of call, said Maj. Olin Saunders at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla.
The crash occurred about 60 miles off the Somali coast.
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