Video Shows Marine Copter’s Landing Gear Snagged on Net Before Fatal Crash

The landing gear of a Marine helicopter apparently snagged a cargo net on the deck of a ship seconds before the aircraft crashed into the sea, killing seven of the 18 on board, a Defense Department official said Friday night.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a video of the incident shot by the Navy captured the sequence that led to the crash of the big CH-46 Sea Knight chopper as it was taking off from the oiler Pecos on Thursday afternoon.

The Navy said someone aboard the helicopter, unaware that the wheel had snagged, had given the pilot a “thumbs up” signal that the helicopter was ready for takeoff.

The revelations about what might have caused the crash emerged Friday as the Marine Corps declared that six missing Marines and a missing sailor were considered officially lost at sea.

The Navy said a massive search effort, centered on the crash site about 14 miles off Point Loma, is now considered a recovery operation, rather than a rescue operation.

The American flag was lowered to half-staff at Camp Pendleton on Friday and a prayer service was held aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard. Led by Catholic Msgr. Joseph Carroll, military families and others held a candlelight vigil at the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit,” said Marine Lt. Gen. Bruce Knutson Jr. “We are doing everything we can to support them in this time of sorrow.”

Late Friday, after notifying their families, the Marine Corps released the names of the seven missing men:

* Cpl. Mark M. Baca, 22, of Arvada, Colo.

* Staff Sgt. William Dame, 33, of Yuma, Ariz.

* Staff Sgt. David E. Galloway, 28, of Oregon City, Ore.

* Gunnery Sgt. James P. Paige, 37, Jr. of Middlesex, N.J.

* Staff Sgt. Vincent Sabasteanski, 34, of Cumberland, Maine.

* Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Starling, 27, of South Dayton, Fla.

* Navy Petty Officer Jay J. Asis, 33, of Quezon City, the Philippines, a medical corpsman.

President Clinton, addressing a business group in Arkansas, said the crash demonstrates that military service, even in peacetime, is dangerous and that military personnel deserve the nation’s gratitude. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Clinton said of the seven and their families.

The CH-46 Sea Knight, a Vietnam-era helicopter scheduled to be replaced, crashed while on a training exercise to prepare troops for a six-month assignment in the Persian Gulf.

Eleven Marines were immediately rescued from the water by Special Warfare Command boats commanded by electrician’s mate Lars Hausken of San Pedro and gunner’s mate Christopher Velasco of Missouri.

But six Marines and the only sailor aboard the helicopter apparently were trapped inside when it disappeared in 3,600 feet of water. Only small bits of debris have been found, including a sock, part of a helmet and a pack of cigarettes.

Water temperatures at the crash site dipped into the low 50s overnight and military authorities estimated that the average person could only last eight hours in water that cold.

The CH-46 was part of a “top-down, bottom-up” exercise in which Marines and Navy SEALs practice boarding a hostile ship at sea. The SEALs arrive in fast-moving rubber boats and scale the side of the ship while Marines rappel down a rope from a hovering helicopter.

The search-and-seizure exercise is a common one for troops training to deploy to the Persian Gulf, where they might be called upon to board a ship to look for weapons, drugs or oil.

During the exercise Thursday, the SEALs had already boarded the Pecos, which was playing the role of an enemy vessel. The helicopter had taken off from the Bonhomme Richard just minutes before the crash.

The Marines and corpsman Asis were getting ready to rappel down a 30-foot rope to the Pecos when the Sea Knight went out of control, plunged into the sea and sank.

The 11 surviving Marines were plucked from the water by crewmen of two rubber boats that had just delivered the SEALs to the side of the Pecos.

Like many helicopters, the CH-46 is top-heavy and tends to flip upside-down and sink quickly despite being equipped with flotation devices. Still, crewmen aboard search-and-rescue helicopters that arrived within minutes were surprised at how quickly the helicopter sank.

“There was absolutely nothing there, no fuel slick, no oil slick, no major debris,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ashley Dussel.

None of the 11 who survived were seriously injured, but three were taken by helicopter to the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego. The others were treated aboard the Bonhomme Richard.

Perry reported from San Diego and Richter from Washington.