2015 Eglin Air Force Base helicopter crash


On March 10, 2015, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter of the United States Army crashed off the coast of the Florida Panhandle during a training exercise at Eglin Air Force Base, killing all eleven people on board. The helicopter was reported missing during foggy conditions at 8:30 PM. The helicopter was assigned to the 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion in Hammond, Louisiana.

Flight

The Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was on a night training flight on March 10, 2015 when it disappeared. The Marines on board the helicopter were supposed to be dropped off by the helicopter and make their way ashore to simulate an over-the-beach landing. They had conducted a similar exercise earlier in the day. The helicopter flew into dense coastal fog and disappeared. The wreckage was later found in 25 feet of water off the coast of Pensacola. A later investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was spatial disorientation resulting in the pilots crashing into the Santa Rosa Sound.

Passengers and crew

The Blackhawk helicopter was piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 4 George Wayne Griffin Jr., 37, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 George David Strother, 44 both members of the Louisiana National Guard.
There were eleven people on board the helicopter at the time, of whom seven were U.S Marines assigned to a special operations unit and four were U.S Army soldiers and members of the Louisiana National Guard. The Marines on the helicopter were assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Search

Debris from the crash was found on March 11 at 2 AM around Okaloosa Island. The ongoing search for the passengers, which is focused on waters east of Navarre, Florida, has been hampered by heavy fog in the area. On the morning of March 11, a spokesman for the Eglin Air Force Base said that human remains had been found in the area of the search. As of March 12, the bodies of two soldiers on board the helicopter had been recovered.
By March 17, 2015, all 11 bodies from the crash had been recovered and identified.