Team Sent to Probe Wreckage of Camp Pendleton Helicopter Found in Quake Ravaged Nepal

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By MIRNA ALFONSO (Patch Staff)

Updated at 9:20 a.m. May 15, 2015

The wreckage of a helicopter believed to have crashed while carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers has been found on a Himalayan hillside in earthquake-stricken Nepal, authorities said Friday.

The helicopter, based at Camp Pendleton and attached to Marine Light Helicopter Squadron 469, disappeared over the town of Charikot hours after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck the region earlier this week.

Members of a joint task force identified the wreckage of the USMC UH-1Y Huey about 8 miles north of Charikot shortly before 2 p.m. today Nepal Standard Time, according to U.S. Army Maj. Dave Eastburn, spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command.

A five-member rescue team was sent to the crash site, Eastburn said.

The Nepalese defense minister said rescuers had found three bodies near the helicopter.

Televised news reports by CNN said the bodies were burned.

The helicopter, which was on a disaster-relief mission called “Operation Sahayogi Haat,” was reported missing Tuesday morning, approximately nine hours after Nepal was struck by a magnitude-7.3 aftershock to the magnitude-7.8 temblor of April 25. The initial earthquake killed more than 8,200 people while the big aftershock claimed another 117 lives.

The helicopter and squadron were diverted from a Joint Task Force exercise in the Philippines to assist with search and rescue.

Aircraft from the United States, India and Nepal had searched for the missing helicopter before it was found.

Eastburn said an assessment of the site was ongoing and a thorough investigation would be conducted.

For updates on this story and more, click here.

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There were reports early Friday, May 15, that a Camp Pendleton Marine helicopter reported missing while on a humanitarian mission this week has been found, wrecked in some mountains northeast of Kathmandu, the Los Angeles Times reported.

• Camp Pendleton Helicopter, Marines Missing in Nepal

• Still no Sign of Camp Pen Marines, Chopper Missing in Nepal

The chopper, which belongs to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469, went missing hours after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck midway between Kathmandu and Mount Everest.

To read the L.A. Times story, please click here.