Operations In Cobra-Hercules Accident Now a Recovery Mission

Military officials Sunday shifted from a "Search and Rescue" mission to recovery mode in an accident that has apparently claimed the lives of 7 people aboard a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules and two aboard a Marine Corps Super Cobra helicopter last week.

File Photo

“After an exhaustive effort with the intent to rescue, our hope has dimmed in finding any survivors,” said Petty Officer First Class Allyson Conroy, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard in San Diego. “We are now concentrating on recovering anything out of the water, or anyone out of the water.”

The New York Times reports rescuers have searched about 644 square miles of ocean off the San Diego coast since the accident occurred Thursday. The C-130 was engaged in a SAR mission looking for a missing boater, and the Super Cobra was on a training mission when the two collided, resulting in what one witness described as a "fireball".

File Photo

Officials directing the search say they will not turn their efforts to an investigation as to why the accident happened, and piecing together the wreckage found off San Clemente Island.

FMI: www.uscg.mil, www.marines.com