A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed during a training mission, killing three crew members and injuring a fourth, The Associated Press quoted a Navy spokesman as saying. The injured crew member was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, said Ed Mickley, a spokesman for the Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command. The Navy MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter was part of Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 out of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Mickley said. It went down Wednesday night in a farmer's field about 4 miles (7 kilometers) south of Corpus Christi, he said. Lt. Sean Robertson, a spokesman for NAS Corpus Christi, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times the crash happened during heavy fog. The newspaper said downed power lines hindered the efforts of the first rescuers. The crash caused a fire, but firefighters extinguished the flames.
