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Latest on military helicopter crash: Fog hampers search
March 11, 2015 12:19 EDT
Eds: Updates with search area size. Adds quote from possible witness. With BC-US--Military Helicopter Crash. AP Video. With AP Photos. By The Associated Press
12:15 P.M
The Coast Guard says the search area for an Army helicopter that crashed with 11 Marines and soldiers on board is about 50 square miles.
The Coast Guard says debris from the crash was first spotted about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Search crews on the beach and in the Santa Rosa Sound are still trying to navigate dense fog and light rain. Some human remains have washed ashore. A Pentagon official says the 11 service members are presumed dead.
Navarre Beach is known for its undeveloped beauty and relaxed feel. There is one main beach bar and restaurant -- Juana's Pagoda. There are dozens of boats from police agencies, the Coast Guard and other search and rescue agencies taking off from the boat ramp behind Juana's Pagoda on Santa Rosa Island.
11:15 A.M.
A woman who lives and works at a campground near where a military helicopter crashed with 11 Marines and soldiers aboard says she heard something strange about the time the chopper was reported missing.
Kim Urr was sitting outside with a friend around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Navarre Beach campground. Urr says they are used to hearing helicopters and ordnance blasts from the military base nearby, but this sound was different.
"It sounded like something metal either being hit or falling over, that's what it sounded like. And there were two booms afterward, similar to what you hear with ordnance booms, but more muffled," Urr said.
She says they knew immediately that something was not right. They listened for sirens, but there were none. On Wednesday morning, they heard a lot of sirens.
10:45 A.M
About a dozen airmen wearing fatigues walked shoulder to shoulder down a foggy beach, looking at the sand for any sign of 11 missing Marines and soldiers who were aboard a helicopter that was reported missing Tuesday night.
The airmen searching the beach appeared to be holding portable GPS units. Searchers with dogs were also on the beach, along with law enforcement and rescue crews from a number of agencies in the area. The fog was still heavy.
10:30 A.M.
Sara Vidoni, a spokeswoman for Eglin Air Force Base, says military officials and local law enforcement are focusing their search for 11 missing Marines and soldiers on the Santa Rosa Sound, a narrow waterway separating Santa Rosa Island from Florida's mainland.
A Pentagon official said the 11 service members are presumed dead and that the Coast Guard found debris in the water. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak on the record.
Heavy fog has been hampering search efforts. From the beach, search boats can be heard blasting horns as they combed the water, but they could not be seen through the fog.
9:30 A.M
Crews have found human remains connected to the Army helicopter crash. Seven Marines and four soldiers were aboard when it crashed over waters off Florida during a training mission.
Sara Vidoni is a spokeswoman for Eglin Air Force Base. She said Wednesday that human remains have washed ashore, but crews are still considering it a search-and-rescue mission.
Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland says the helicopter -- a UH-60 Black Hawk from the Army National Guard -- was reported missing around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, and crews found debris around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor in Washington and Jason Dearen in Gainesville contributed to this report.
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