Helicopter crashes on Navy ship; 1 dead, 8 injured

[October 23, 2009]  NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training, killing one service member and injuring eight, the Navy said.

Service members were rappelling down a rope from the helicopter to the USNS Arctic around 8 p.m. Thursday off the Virginia coast near Fort Story when the crash happened, Navy spokeswoman Lt. J. G. Megan Issac said.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

A second helicopter took the injured people to a hospital for treatment. None had life threatening injuries, Issac said.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi said the training exercise involved the two Army helicopters and members of a Naval Special Warfare unit.

Names of the dead and injured and their service affiliations were not immediately released.

The Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk and the damaged helicopter remained aboard the ship.

[Associated Press]

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