7 Marines, 4 soldiers missing after helicopter crashes
PENSACOLA - Seven Marines and four soldiers are missing early Wednesday after a US Army helicopter crashed during a night training exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.
Base officials say the Marines are part of a Camp Lejeune-based special operations group and the soldiers are from a Hammond, Louisiana-based National Guard unit.
Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland says the helicopter was reported missing around 8:30pm Tuesday and search and rescue crews found debris from the crash around 2am Wednesday.
The helicopter went down during a routine training mission on a remote swath of beach between Pensacola and Destin. The beach is owned by the military and is used for test missions.
