Navy Copter Crashes in Mountains Near San Bernardino, Killing 5

Five members of a Navy helicopter crew perished Friday when their aircraft crashed in the rugged mountain terrain near San Bernardino during a routine training mission, authorities said.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said a four-member search and rescue crew would secure the crash site until Naval officials arrived to investigate why the helicopter crashed.

“We confirmed that there were no survivors,” Beavers said.

The SH-60B antisubmarine helicopter was found near the 5,000-foot level at Monument Peak, near the resort town of Crestline and three miles west of Silverwood Lake.

The helicopter took off from the Navy’s North Island air station in San Diego at 1 p.m. for a routine training flight to Las Vegas, said Navy Lt. j.g. Charlie Brown. The military helicopter, designed to take off from a variety of surface ships, including cruisers and destroyers, was not armed, he said.

Navy air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at 2 p.m, as it was crossing the San Bernardino Mountains near Silverwood Lake.

The Navy called San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials in Victorville, and a sheriff’s helicopter began searching the steep slopes near the lake. Ground crews joined the search shortly before sundown.

Fog, gusty winds and freezing temperatures hampered the search. Sheriff’s helicopters stopped circling over the area by nightfall, but a U.S. Customs helicopter with night vision equipment found the wreckage at about 6:45 p.m., and the ground crew arrived at the site at about 8, Beavers said.