NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A US Navy MH-60S helicopter that crashed into the James River on Tuesday morning has been recovered.
According to a witness at Huntington Beach, the helicopter was pulled from the river between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
A Navy spokesperson tells News 3 that a barge from Crofton Industries was sent to assist in the recovery of the helicopter.
A team of Navy divers worked for approximately 10 hours to search, recover and rig the helicopter for its recovery onto the barge. The helicopter appears to be largely intact, but does have several broken rotors.
Several pictures shared from Crofton Industries show the helicopter being hoisted from the water and placed onto the barge.
The helicopter crashed while on a routine training mission, the Navy said. It crashed north of the James River Bridge, approximately in the middle of the James River.
The crash was reported at 11:12 a.m. Tuesday when a fishing vessel made a mayday call.
A Good Samaritan vessel immediately responded to the crash site and rescued the three crew members on board.
The crew members were all transported from the Good Samaritan vessel onto a waiting police boat and then transferred again to a fire boat where they could be evaluated.
All three were transferred to the boat on their own power and appeared to have non-life threatening injuries. They were taken to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth for further treatment.
The Navy says the MH-60S helicopter is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Two (HSC-2), the helicopter Fleet Replacement Squadron based at Norfolk Naval Station Chambers Field.
At this time, the cause of the crash is still unknown.
