Crews Begin Raising Crashed Helicopter to Surface

U.S. Coast Guard officials say they've begun the process of lifting a submerged helicopter from the floor of Mobile Bay to the surface as they continue searching for three missing crew members.
   
Petty Officer Bill Colclough said Thursday morning that the effort started between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Rescue crews have said they need to raise the helicopter's fuselage to gain access to it, and find out whether the crew member are inside or somewhere at sea.
   
The MH-65C helicopter crashed on a training mission Tuesday evening near Point Clear. One crewmember was found unresponsive and later declared dead.
    
Colclough said searchers have now saturated 95 percent of Mobile Bay in hopes of finding the missing crew members. An area is considered saturated after it has been combed several times.