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Search continues for nine missing after midair collision off California

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Sunday, November 1, 2009

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Three days after a US Navy helicopter collided with a US Coast Guard airplane off the coast of California, a search and rescue mission is ongoing for the nine crew onboard the two aircraft.

The two on board the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter and seven on the C-130 Hercules transport plane were trained in survival and described as being in good physical condition, meaning rescuers maintain hope of finding them alive. They all had heat-retaining drysuits but it was unknown if they were wearing them at the time.

The accident occurred at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday in an area of military airspace that is sometimes closed to the public, although its status at the time of the accident was not known. The helicopter had been in formation with two transports and another SuperCobra to practise night flying, while the Coast Guard plane was conducting search and rescue for 50-year-old boater David Jines. The search for Jines ends today whether he is found or not.

Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo said today that the missing air crews are "trained in survival tactics, they're trained also with the will to live. We know they have the ability to survive longer than you might expect." However, he also expressed concern that there may not be any survivors. "... hope gets less every day. My hope today is not what it was yesterday."

After searching 644 square miles of ocean with nine aircraft debris has been located from both the aircraft, but no trace has been found of those on board. Operations are currently focusing near the military's San Clemente Island, where an area of about 50 miles of floating wreckage is located.


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  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
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