1 dead, 8 hurt in helicopter crash on Navy ship

updated 8:49 a.m. ET Oct. 23, 2009

NORFOLK, Va. - One service member was killed and eight others injured after an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during a training exercise, the Navy said.

The crash aboard the USNS Artic occurred around 8 p.m. Thursday while service members were rappelling down a rope from the helicopter to the ship off the coast of Fort Story, Va., north of Virginia Beach, said Navy spokeswoman Lt. J. G. Megan Issac.

The injured service members were evacuated by a second Army helicopter and taken to a local hospital for treatment. None had life threatening injuries, Issac said.

Names not released
Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi said the training exercise involved the two Army helicopters and members of a Naval Special Warfare unit.

Names of the dead and injured were not immediately released.

The Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk and the damaged helicopter remained aboard the ship.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

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