Bullets strewn on site where US military helicopter crashed in Norfolk, killing four

 
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Kiran Randhawa8 January 2014

Bullets are among the debris scattered across the site of a military helicopter crash which left four people dead.

The live ammunition is spread across the scene, described as the size of a football pitch, where the US Pavehawk came down.

Police set up a 400 metre safety cordon around the wreckage site on the Norfolk coast as specialist teams combed the area for clues.

Emergency services man a road block at Salthouse near to Cley-next-the-Sea, North Norfolk, after a US military HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, part of the 48th Air Wing of the US Air Force based at RAF Lakenheath, crashed with the loss of four crew members,

Emergency services worked throughout the night with the help of military personnel after the aircraft which took off at a US air force base at RAF Lakenheath came down in Cley-next-the-Sea at around 6pm yesterday during a low-flying training exercise.

The bodies of the four victims were still at the scene this morning.

Residents told of hearing a “heavy and very unusual” sound overhead as the helicopter - which specialises in recovering troops from war zones - plummeted into flooded marshland.

Crash deaths: Fire crews at the scene in Norfolk
BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Emergency services at Salthouse, near to Cley-next-the-Sea, North Norfolk, after an American military HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, part of the 48th Air Wing of the US Air Force based at RAF Lakenheath, crashed with the loss of four

Chief Superintendent Bob Scully of Norfolk Police said: “The crash site itself I would describe as an area of debris on difficult terrain on the marsh that’s about the size of a football pitch.

“It’s not on the beach, although there are some bits of debris which are vulnerable to high tide.”

There was speculation that the crash could have been caused by a bird strike but Mr Scully said it was too early to say what caused the HH-60G Pave Hawk to fall from the sky.

Crash: Four crew members died
PA

He added: “At the present time the coroner, who is responsible for the investigation into the deaths, is carrying out a daylight assessment of the situation and is then arranging for the deceased to be removed from the site.”

He said the investigation would then be passed over to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and its counterparts in the US.

Training deaths: a USAF HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter came down in Norfolk
A US military helicopter that has landed near the scene at Salthouse in Norfolk following a crash near Cley-next-the-Sea. An investigation has begun after four crew members died when another US military helicopter crashed in Norfolk on a training mission

A second helicopter from RAF Lakenheath was also in the area at the time of the crash and set down on the marshes to try to assist, and remains at the scene while the investigation continues.

Bernard Bishop, a Norfolk Wildife Trust warden based at Cley, said his house overlooks the crash site and he had never seen anything like it.

Police this morning near the marsh in Norfolk where the helicopter crashed
A Police road block at Salthouse in Norfolk following a helicopter crash near Cley-next-the-Sea. An investigation has begun after four crew members died when the US military helicopter crashed in Norfolk on a training mission. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Is

“I heard the helicopter flying overhead and watched from my back garden,” he said. “It was very quickly obvious something serious was wrong. The search and rescue crews quickly arrived and it was my job to escort them over the marsh.

“The conditions are very difficult because the marsh has flooded twice in recent weeks so that’s hampering their efforts to recover the bodies and make the helicopter safe.”

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