All three crew members are safe after a Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter crashed this morning in the James River, near Newport News, Virginia.
The helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 2 and flying from Norfolk Naval Station Chambers Field, went down at approximately 10:30 a.m., a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Atlantic, Mike Maus, told Military.com.
According to news station WKTR, a fishing vessel discovered the crash and made a mayday call shortly after 11 a.m. The Seahawk's three crew members were taken aboard a private boat, which carried them to safety, the station reported.
The Newport News Police Department also responded to the crash, Maus said. The crew members were ultimately transported to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, about 25 miles away. Little information is available about their injuries, but Navy officials said they are believed to be non-life threatening.
The cause of the crash will be determined by a mishap investigation board, officials said.
This marks the fourth aircraft loss in less than a month for the Navy.
On May 26, two F/A-18 F Super Hornets went down after colliding off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. All four personnel aboard the aircraft were rescued. And on June 2, Blue Angels solo pilot Capt. Jeff Kuss was killed when his F/A-18C Hornet crashed shortly after take-off ahead during air show practice in Smyrna, Tennessee.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
