Eleven persons including 7 Marines and 4 soldiers have been reported missing in the wee hours of Wednesday, March 11, 2015 following an Army helicopter crash 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, Huff Post News reports.
The debris of the crashed helicopter was discovered by some search and rescue team members around 2 a.m after it was reported missing around 8.30 pm of Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland said, “At this time all are missing.”
The names of the missing occupants would be published after approval by next of kin.
Bourland said the Army helicopter took off from a nearby airport in Destin and joined other aircraft in the training exercise before it crashed on a remote swath of a military-owned beach between Pensacola and Destin area of the country.
