© 2025 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Protect my public media

2 Dead, 1 Missing After Navy Helicopter Crashes Off Virginia Coast

U.S. Navy crew members board a MH-53E helicopter in 2011. The Sea Dragon helicopter is similar to the one that crashed off Virginia on Wednesday.
Lt. Cmdr. John L. Kline
/
AP
U.S. Navy crew members board a MH-53E helicopter in 2011. The Sea Dragon helicopter is similar to the one that crashed off Virginia on Wednesday.

This post was updated at 7:45 p.m.

Two crew members who were rescued after the U.S. Navy helicopter they were in went down in the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia have died, The Virginian-Pilot reports. They were among the four crew members taken to a hospital today. One crew member died soon after being rescued; the second died later Wednesday.

Coast Guard vessels and local law enforcement were continuing to search for a fifth occupant of the giant MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter, which went down about 18 miles east of Cape Henry, Va.

A report of the crash of the helicopter was received around 11:30 a.m. ET, Petty Officer David Weydert told The Virginian-Pilot.

Navy spokesman Cmdr. Mike Kafka says the four who were rescued were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

The Virginian-Pilot says the cutter Shearwater was just 2 miles away when the crash occurred.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.