Marine Helicopters Collide, Crash In Swamp, Killing 14 All Victims American In British-U.S. Training Exercise Mishap

Two Marine helicopters collided in the dark and crashed in a piney swamp Friday during the biggest U.S.-British training exercise in history, killing 14 people. A pilot and co-pilot were seriously injured.

The collision involved a CH-46E Sea Knight and an AH-1W Cobra assault helicopter and happened about 2 a.m. in clear weather under a half-moon.

Rescue workers had to wade into chest-deep mud and water and cut through the underbrush with chain saws to search for bodies. All of the victims were Americans.

“It’s in a heavily marshed thick woods, extremely dense underbrush, making it just about impassible by any kind of vehicle,” said Col. J.C. Yannessa, whose uniform had a water line across the top of his shirt pocket.

Crews retrieved all of the bodies by 6 p.m. Many were extensively burned by a fire that broke out upon impact, said a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Dental records will be needed to identify the remains, he said.

Television and radio stations in Springfield, Mo., reported that Marine Capt. Scott Rice, 29, of Springfield, died in the crash. The stations said they received confirmation from his family.

It was the worst Marine Corps aviation disaster since a Sea Knight crashed at sea in 1989, killing 14 people aboard.

“Our hearts go out to the families, the friends, the loved ones of those who lost their lives,” President Clinton said at the White House.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Marine Corps said the Cobra’s mission was to fly ahead of the larger Sea Knight, a troop transport, to secure a landing zone for it. Once the Sea Knight approached the zone, the Cobra was to swing back around.

Camp Lejeune spokesman Maj. Steve Little could not say whether the pilots were using night vision goggles, or describe other conditions on the mock battlefield.

The Pentagon official said the two Marines who survived the crash were the pilot and the co-pilot of the CH-46E. The pilot was hospitalized in critical condition with head and chest injuries. The co-pilot was in stable condition with less severe injuries.

The aircraft were participating in Operation Purple Star, war games involving 38,000 U.S. troops and more than 15,000 British troops assembled off the North Carolina coast this week.