LONDON — A US Air Force Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in the coastal marshes of eastern England during a trainᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚing mission Tuesday night, killing all four crew members aboard, officials said.
The helicopter crashed at about 6 p.m. local time near Salthous🍰e on the Norfol♑k coast, the Air Force said.
The aircraft was based at the nearb♉y Royal Air Force station in Lakenheath, Suffolk County, which hosts USAF units and personnel. The helicopter was assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, was flying low at the time of the crash, the Air Force added.Pave Hawks have been deployed in numerous missions, including to Japan in the wake of the tsunami in 2011 and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They also support military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
In Washington, a defense official said the accident killed the four crew m🌞embers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the crash publicly.
Local police in N꧋orfolk County also said they believed all four crew people had died. It said relatives will be notified before details of the victims can be released.
Em🌜ergency workers from the fire brigade, coast guard and police are at the scene. Police in Norfolk County said they believe there is ammunition onboard the helicopter, and the scene was cordoned off so that experts could ensure the area is safe. Apart from the crew, nobody was put in any danger, police said.
It is not yet known what caused the accident.
Pave Hawks — a modified version of the better-known Black Hawks — are mostly used for combat search and rescue missions, mainly꧃ to recover downed air crew members or other personne𝕴l during war and other hostile situations. They typically practice flying low and fast, often at altitudes of hundreds, rather than thousands, of feet.