Saturday, October 24, 2009

Army-Navy Joint Training Incident at Sea

NORFOLK (NNS) -- One service member is dead and eight are injured following a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter crash on the Navy fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8) at approximately 8:00 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 22, 20 nautical miles off the coast from Fort Story, Virginia.

The crash occurred during routine training operations involving the Army helicopter and members of an East Coast based Naval Special Warfare Unit.

Injured service members were evacuated from USNS Arctic by a second Army helicopter participating in the training and taken to a local Norfolk hospital for treatment.

USNS Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk and the damaged helicopter remains onboard.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.