Army Copter Crashes Near Big Bear; 3 Die
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RIVERSIDE — An Army UH-1 Huey helicopter on a training mission crashed in a remote canyon area 17 miles southeast of Big Bear Lake, killing three soldiers and injuring two others on board, authorities said today.
It was unclear at what time the helicopter went down at the 6,000-foot level of the Big Morongo Canyon area, about 110 miles east of Los Angeles, but a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s official said he received reports of the crash at about 9 a.m. today.
The identities of the soldiers on board were being withheld pending further investigation, authorities said.
Efforts to rescue the survivors and airlift them to a hospital continued through the noon hour today.
Connie Smith, public information officer at the U.S. Sixth Army Presidio, San Francisco, said the helicopter was “on a training flight to support an exercise in the area.” The aircraft had flown to Southern California from Ft. Sill, Okla.
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