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4 Marines presumed dead in helicopter crash
Search ends after wreckage washes up on beaches
May 12, 1997
Web posted at: 9:21 a.m. EDT (1321 GMT)
CAMP PENDLETON, California (CNN) -- Four Marines are presumed dead after the weekend crash of their helicopter off the coast of Southern California, military officials said.
A search for the four was called off late Sunday after pieces of wreckage from the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter started to wash up on nearby beaches.
"All possibilities have been exhausted," said Staff Sgt. Glenn Holloway, a spokesman at the Camp Pendleton military base.
The names of the four Marines, who were assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, California, have not been released.
The helicopter disappeared Saturday night after taking off from the USS Juneau during exercises about 10 miles off the coast of Camp Pendleton. The aircraft and its crew were part of a joint exercise between Marine forces from El Toro and a squadron from Camp Pendleton.
CNN has learned that crew members on the Juneau witnessed the helicopter's crash.
"Military officials are interviewing crew members aboard the USS Juneau and reviewing flight data to determine what went wrong," said military spokeswoman Lt. Megan Mason.
Saturday's crash was the fourth in less than a year involving a Sea Knight. It is one of the oldest aircraft used by the military, first used in 1964 during the Vietnam War.
Officials investigating the cause of the crash are looking at whether the helicopter's pilots were flying with the assistance of night goggles. The goggles have been investigated as a possible contributing factor in dozens of accidents since the 1970s.
Related story:
- Four Marines missing after helicopter crash - May 11, 1997
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