Navy Helicopter Explodes; Eight Lost Off S.F.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Navy helicopter broke apart in a pair of powerful explosions over open sea today and searchers feared that all eight crewmen were killed, military officials reported.

An extensive search was under way in an area 11 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, but Coast Guard officials said there was no sign of survivors.

The cause of the blasts was not immediately known.

The crew of a private vessel, the Northern Lights, reported that they heard two explosions about 11 a.m. and then “saw the helicopter disappear from the sky” 11 miles west of the Golden Gate, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Thomas Cowan.

“There were eight people on board. We expect no survivors,” Cowan said.

He said search crews found “a lot of wreckage” in the area, and other officials said that included the discovery of six flight helmets.

Three helicopters--two from the Navy and one from the Coast Guard--joined the Coast Guard Cutter Cutty Blackhaw, two smaller Coast Guard vessels and the Northern Lights in the search.

Cowan said the search was complicated by dense fog in the area that had reduced visibility to 150 yards.

Navy spokeswoman Virginia Felker said the helicopter was attached to Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, based at Alameda Naval Air Station on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.

She said the helicopter was conducting a routine mine countermeasure operation that involved using radar equipment and pulling a weighted sled to simulate towing a mine.