News
HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter goes down, kills four

The HH-60 Pave Hawk, a derivative of the Sikorsky Black Hawk aircraft, plunged into marshland at Cley-next-the-Sea at about 6pm.

Emergency
services worked throughout the night with the help of military
personnel and volunteers to secure the crash site, with some debris
threatened by tidal waters.

The US Air Force said the helicopter
went down between a beach car park at Cley and Eastbank, near Salthouse –
an area which remains flooded following the recent tidal surge.

An
investigation has now been launched into how the aircraft, described as
having "the best safety record of any helicopter that the US has ever
owned", could have crashed during a routine low-level training exercise.

The
Pave Hawk was stationed with the 48th Air Wing at the US Air Force base
at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, which issued a statement saying: "US
military officials are coordinating the recovery efforts with the UK
police and the Ministry of Defence.

"The authorities have secured the crash site and established a cordon.

"The
aircraft, assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, was performing a low-level
training mission along the coast when the crash occurred."

Police
said all four crew members on board the helicopter at the time were
killed in the crash, and that wreckage including live munitions had been
scattered across an area the size of a football pitch.

Speaking near the scene, Chief Superintendent Bob Scully of Norfolk Police said it was too early to say what caused the crash.

He
said the aircraft had contained ammunition, and that a 400 metre-wide
area had been closed off because the scattering of bullets made the site
"hazardous to members of the public".

A second helicopter from
RAF Lakenheath was also in the area at the time of the crash and set
down on the marshes to try to assist.

Mr Scully refused to speculate on whether the second helicopter had
any involvement in the incident but said that, as it was nearby at the
time, it made sense that it went to help.

He went on: "We are
moving from a potential recovery operation to one of preserving the
scene and carrying out an investigation."

Richard Kelham, the
chairman of Cley Parish Council, told ITV News that the helicopter was
thought to have landed in a bird reserve. North Norfolk is famous as a
birdwatching area and is popular with walkers and tourists.

But
speaking to BBC News, retired colonel and former Pave Hawk pilot Rick
Davis said it was highly unlikely that a so-called bird-strike would
have caused any problems for the aircraft.

He said one possible
explanation, based on the presence of live ammunition on board the
helicopter, could be that the crew got into difficulties while going
through strenuous "battle-ready" preparations.

He added that the
crash was particularly unusual given the fact that "the Pave Hawk may
have the best safety record of any helicopter that the United States
military has ever owned".

Peter and Sue McKnespiey, who run
Cookies crab shop in Salthouse, live near the crash site and said they
heard the helicopter come over "very fast and very low".

Mrs
McKnespiey said: "I don't know about engines but I am used to the sound
of helicopters and this sounded very heavy and very unusual. My gut
instinct was there was something wrong."

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr McKnespiey added: "They usually make a distinctive sound, but this one sounded like it was misfiring."

Nearby residents told the Eastern Daily Press
newspaper that they later heard American F-15 fighter aircraft
searching overhead. More helicopters were also circling the area.

Mr Scully said the US authorities had been responsible for notifying
the next of kind of those who died. "As you would expect, we in the UK
police have expressed our condolences to our US colleagues for the loss
of some of their crew," he said. "It's a desperately sad time."

Norman
Lamb, the Liberal Democrat  MP for North Norfolk, said the crash was
"utterly tragic", adding: "My heart goes out to the families of the
crew, and it is all the more difficult because I suspect the families
are from a long way away and the news is just filtering through. It is
highly traumatic too for the local communities but it was quite close to
the villages and could have been even more horrific if it came down on
buildings."

The Ministry of Defence said the RAF was assisting police with the recovery operation.

The
wartime role of Pave Hawks is to conduct rescue operations in hostile
environments and recover isolated soldiers. They can also be used for
civilian search-and-rescue missions, medical evacuations, disaster
responses and humanitarian assistance. The $40.1 million (£24 million)
Pave Hawk is 64ft long and can travel at speeds of up to 184mph (159
knots).

The US military deployed some of its Pave Hawk fleet to
help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and
following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011.

Today, Pave Hawks continue to support American military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

The crash comes weeks after a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha Pub in Glasgow on 30 November, killing 10 people.