7 Marines, 4 Soldiers Presumed Dead After Helicopter Crashes

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Seven Marines and four soldiers are presumed dead after they went missing Tuesday night after an Army helicopter crashed during a night training exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.

Base officials said the Marines are part of a Camp Lejeune-based special operations group and the soldiers were from a Hammond, Louisiana-based National Guard unit.

The helicopter was reported missing around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and search and rescue crews found debris from the crash around 2 a.m. Wednesday, Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland says remains have been found, the search will continue, but all are presumed dead.

Names of those involved were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, he said.

Bourland said the Army helicopter took off from a nearby airport in Destin and joined other aircraft in the training exercise.

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.