UK: investigators study scene after copter crash

Authorities in England cordoned off flooded marshes to investigate the crash of a military helicopter that killed four US Air Force crewmembers.
The Pave Hawk helicopter slammed into the eastern coast during a low-level training mission Tuesday evening. Teams combing the marshes have been hampered by bullets scattered across the scene and have not yet recovered the crew's remains.
"We have currently cordoned off about 400 square meters (500 square yards) of the marshland area," Chief Superintendent Bob Scully of Norfolk Police said yesterday. "The crash site itself I would describe as an area of debris on difficult terrain on the marsh."

Local authorities are carrying out a daylight investigation, and the bodies will be removed afterward. The aircraft was assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing. One victim, 28-year-old son, Capt. Christopher Stover, was identified by his family in Vancouver, Washington. The names of other three have yet to be released, pending family notification.
The Pave Hawk copter assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing was based at the Royal Air Force station in Lakenheath. It was flying low at the time of the crash.
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 personnel during war and other hostile situations. They typically practise flying low and fast, often at altitudes of hundreds, rather than thousands, of feet.

The choppers are highly regarded and have no known safety issues, said Peter Felstead, the editor of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

"It's very difficult to know if there is a mechanical problem or something other than that," he said, adding the flooded marshes will complicate the recovery of debris. The helicopter plummeted into the Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley Marshes Nature Reserve. The aircraft was based at the nearby Royal Air Force station in Lakenheath.
Britain's Met Office said that nearby Weybourne reported wind gusts of 36 mph (58 kph) at the time of the crash, though sustained winds were weaker. The area near the site has flooded twice.

"We are having very bad weather at the moment," Felstead said. "If you are in a helicopter and you are flying quite low, if anything does go wrong there's less chance to correct it.