2 Marines missing in ocean after chopper crash - July 28, 1997
CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) -- A Marine attack helicopter
crashed off the coast during a training flight, and its two-man crew
was missing.
The AH-1W Cobra crashed at 10:45 p.m. Sunday in the Atlantic
seven miles southeast of New River Inlet, during an exercise being
conducted by the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit off the coast.
Units from the Marines, Navy and Coast Guard searched Monday for
the crewmen, identified as Capt. Clark A. Cox from Iowa City, Iowa,
and Capt. Jerrell H. Boggan from Haskell, Oklahoma.
The Cobra that crashed was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter
Squadron 263.
Little was known about the circumstances of the crash because
the unit's officers were aboard ships and communication with public
affairs officers on shore was limited, said Staff Sgt. Kent Flora,
a spokesman at Marine Corps Air Station New River. The air station
is part of the sprawling Camp Lejeune base.
"We're still trying to find out what happened," Flora said.
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