Coast Guard Recovers Bodies Of Two Missing Crewmembers

9:15 pm.
The Coast Guard has recovered the bodies of the instructor pilot, LT. Cmdr. Dale Taylor, and student pilot, LT j.g. Thomas Cameron.

The active Search and Rescue has been suspended. Crews will search for the body
of Petty Officer 3rd Class Drew Knight of Thomasville tomorrow.

"We're relieved to have recovered three of the four heroes," said Capt. Don Rose. "Our hearts are still aching for their passing. We want to find Drew Knight and bring him home."

The bodies of Taylor and Cameron were found late this afternoon, about 100 yards from the crash site, 3.5 miles southwest of Point Clear. Rose says the crew was ejected from the helicopter in the crash, which he described as a "strong collision (with the water) and probably at some speed." But the cause of the crash is still unknown.

The Coast Guard used multiple types of sonar to scan the bottom of Mobile Bay. When an anomaly was detected, they put the divers in the water to inspect it. That's how they found the two bodies. And that's how they will proceed tomorrow, once again scanning the bottom of the Bay looking for Knight's body.

Search crews will also be looking for debris from the wreck. The Coast Guard has recovered the fuselage, tail and flight data recorder, but other smaller pieces are washing up on the Eastern Shore.

"We have found debris that has washed up on the shores of Fairhope and beyond that," says Rose. "If you see it, call the Coast Guard or police."

The Coast Guard plans to bring the fuselage back to shore tomorrow. Tonight it's sitting on a 57' barge at the crash site, covered with a blue tarp.

When asked about the victims families, Rose said "theyre grieveing. Any family that gives their son or daughter, spouse, to the United States for service bears a special sacrifice for our country. We feel that as members of the Coast Guard and we’re surrounding those families. We’re going to support them. And we appreciate the support the community has shown to them as well.

8:58 pm.

News 5 has learned the Coast Guard has found the bodies of two of the three crew members missing since their chopper crashed into Mobile Bay Tuesday night.

Their identities have not yet been released. But the Coast Guard is expected to hold a news conference at 9:00 p.m.

Missing are LT Cmdr Dale Taylor, LT j.g. Thomas Cameron and Petty Officer 3rd Class Drew Knight.

11:47 a.m.
The Coast Guard continues the search for three missing Coast Guard crew members and the salvage of the sunken helicopter in Mobile Bay, Thursday.

Overnight, a crew aboard the Ben R. Johnson, a 57-foot salvage vessel, recovered the helicopter fuselage from the bottom of Mobile Bay. The fuselage did not contain the bodies of the three missing crewmembers.

The search has been ongoing since Tuesday when communications with the crew of the MH-65C were lost during a training flight over Mobile Bay. Rescue crews who arrived on scene immediately recovered a crewmember who was later declared deceased.

Deceased is Chief Petty Officer Fernando Jorge. Missing are Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew Knight, Lt. j.g. Thomas Cameron and Lt. Cmdr. Dale Taylor.

Assets currently searching are:

The 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Stingray, homeported in Mobile;

Two MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crews from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans;

One MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.;

Two 26-foot Trailerable Aids-to-Navigation Boats and crews from Coast Guard Sector Mobile;

Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team;

Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team San Diego dive team;

Alabama Marine Resources;

Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.