Sailor Falls To His Death From Navy Helicopter

Search teams in the central Persian Gulf have recovered the body of a sailor who fell out of an airborne MH-53E helicopter today during a scheduled training mission, the Navy’s 5th Fleet said. MH-53EThe sailor, a crewmember, fell out of the aircraft at noon local time today while it was being flown from Bahrain to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, said 5th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde. She said the sailor fell out at an altitude of 130 feet over an area “off the coast of Saudi Arabia,” but could not say how far off the coast the incident took place. The sailor’s body was located at 3:25 p.m. local time, Hull-Ryde said. In accordance with Pentagon policy, the sailor’s name will be withheld until 24 hours after the family is notified. The helicopter and crew are assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 Det 2, a 4-aircraft detachment forward-deployed in Bahrain. The squadron’s main body is based at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas. No further details were available.