Two dead, one missing as Navy helicopter crashes off Virginia coast

A U.S. Navy helicopter on a training mission crashed into the sea off Virginia on Wednesday, killing two sailors and triggering a search for a missing crew member, the Navy announced.

Three crew members were rescued after the MH-53-E Sea Dragon transport helicopter went down about 11 a.m., the Navy said in a statement. The sailors were plucked from the sea by rescue crews about 20 miles off the coast and taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk.

The surviving crew members’ conditions were not initially released. The Navy statement said they were being evaluated. [Updated, 4:38 p.m.: The Navy said later that a second crew member had died. The first paragraph of this item has been updated to say two killed instead of one.]

The identity of the victims were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Helicopter crews from the Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard are taking part in the search for the missing crew member in frigid 40-degree waters. The cause of the crash is being investigated, the Navy said.

The incident came a day after four crew members were killed when a U.S. Air Force helicopter crashed off the coast of Norfolk, England, during a training exercise Tuesday. There were no survivors.

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