US National Guard helicopter crashes in Puerto Rico, 6 feared dead

US National Guard helicopter crashes in Puerto Rico, 6 feared dead

DANICA COTO
Associated Press
8:56 a.m. EST, December 21, 2010
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Puerto Rico National Guard helicopter has crashed in the ocean after returning from a drug raid, with all six people aboard feared dead, officials said Tuesday.

Two of the passengers are prosecutors with the local justice department and the other four are officials with the National Guard, three of them crew members, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad.

Crews are searching for those aboard, and Police Chief Jose Figueroa Sancha told NotiUno radio station that officials found the fuselage of the UH-72 helicopter just north of the island.

The helicopter was returning from the neighboring island of Vieques when it disappeared late Monday just north of the coastal city of Rio Grande. One pilot had 10 years of experience and the other had at least six years, and neither reported any problems during the flight, said National Guard Gen. Antonio Vicens.
read more here
US National Guard helicopter crashes in Puerto Rico