Survivors Unlikely in US Military Helicopter Crash - US Air Force

US Air Force announced that US military members are unlikely to have survived in Wednesday’s helicopter crash that happened during a military exercise in north-west Florida.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US military members are unlikely to have survived in Wednesday’s helicopter crash that happened during a military exercise in north-west Florida, according to a press release issued by the US Air Force.

"At this point, we are not hopeful for survivors and we're transitioning our search and rescue to a recovery effort," Col. Monte Cannon was quoted as saying in the Thursday’s release.

Seven US Marines and four US Army soldiers were reported missing on Wednesday after a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter vanished off the radar during a routine night-time exercise in the northwestern part of the US state of Florida.

Eglin Air Force Base search and rescue team located the missing helicopter, and the recovery operation is supposed to be shifted to the US Army Combat Readiness Center later on Thursday, according to the release.

The names of the 11 military members will be released after next-of-kin have been notified, the release said.

The missing Marines were from North Carolina's special operations regiment stationed at Camp Lejeune, while the helicopter crew was from Hammond, Louisiana.