Free Republic

PADRE ISLAND - A navy helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing on the Island after discovering it was having engine problems. Minutes before landing, the Sea Dragon helicopter had been over the Gulf of Mexico taking part in a minesweeping training mission. The pilot noticed a problem with the transmission and began looking for a place to land the helicopter. "As we were coming up the beachline and over the top of the southern part of the Island, there was no safe place to land. The first open field that we saw that we could make a safe...

Navy helicopter crashes near Petronila By David Kassabian (Contact) Originally published 08:39 p.m., January 16, 2008 Updated 09:33 p.m., January 16, 2008 A Navy helicopter, MH-53 Sea Dragon, crashed Wednesday night in a rural Nueces County field, exploding in flames. Details are sketchy but at least one person survived the initial crash, a Nueces County constable official said. Rescuers are searching for three people presumed to be on board. It was unclear how many people were on board the helicopter which was out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, the official said. Dozens of rescuers responded, including military units, following...