FLORIDA — The search for four National Guardsmen and seven Marines following a military helicopter crash in the Florida Panhandle is suspended until Thursday morning.
Human remains and helicopter parts were recovered Wednesday after the helicopter crashed in the water and during military training.
Heavy fog throughout most of the day made the search particularly difficult for crews.
All 11 service members were presumed dead after the Army National Guard's UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down offshore, a Pentagon official said.
Military leaders are beginning to visit with the victims' families, according to Channel 9's Tim Barber.
"At this hour, my priority is search, and rescue for our soldiers and the Marines. And secondly, is to take care of our families," said Maj. Gen. Glen Curtis of the Louisiana National Guard.
"(It's) a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk both in training and in combat," said Gen. Martin Dempsey.
The military is still not releasing their names.
Raw: Press conference on military helicopter crash
Photos: Search and rescue underway after military chopper goes down
Twitter: WFTV's Tim Barber is at the scene. Follow @TBarberWFTV for live updates.
Just before the sun set Wednesday, nearby resident Paul Becktell scanned the foggy beach in front of his RV park, looking for anything that could help find the 11 troops.
“I saw something out there at the edge of the water and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t something, you know, maybe the guys are looking for,” he said.
Military officials said some of the missing soldiers had been deployed to Iraq twice and had also responded to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Tropical Storm Isaac. They also assisted in the BP oil spill.
Kim Urr, 62, who works at the nearby Navarre Beach campground, said she heard a strange sound, followed by two explosions about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"It sounded like something metal either being hit or falling over, that's what it sounded like. And there were two booms afterward, similar to what you hear with ordnance booms, but more muffled," Urr said.
President Barack Obama spoke with the military leaders involved and expressed his condolences to the families before saying he's confident of a detailed and thorough investigation, said his spokesman, Josh Earnest.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and their families as the search and rescue continues," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Capitol Hill.
The Black Hawk crashed as Marines and National Guardsmen practiced "insertion and extraction missions," using small boats, and helicopters to get troops into and out of a target site, said Capt. Barry Morris, spokesman for the Marine Corps Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune.
Fog had reduced visibility to less than two miles at the time, according to the National Weather Service. Another helicopter participating in the training returned undamaged, authorities said.
Despite the human remains washing ashore, the military still called it a rescue mission Wednesday, said Sara Vidoni, a spokeswoman for Eglin Air Force Base, outside Pensacola.
The fog remained so heavy Wednesday that search boats just offshore could be heard but not seen, blasting horns as their crews peered into the choppy water. The fog finally began to lift in the afternoon, enabling a helicopter to slowly survey the water.
About a dozen airmen wearing fatigues walked shoulder-to-shoulder down the beach, scanning the sand, while civilian rescue crews and searchers with dogs joined the effort.
The Coast Guard said debris was first spotted about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, and that the search area expanded to a 17-mile stretch of the narrow sound separating Santa Rosa Island from the Florida Panhandle mainland.
The Marines were part of a special operations group based in Camp Lejeune. The National Guard soldiers were from a unit based in Hammond, Louisiana. They had arrived Sunday for a week of training.
None were immediately identified, so that families could be told first.
The helicopter that crashed had joined the training from an airport in nearby Destin. The site includes 20 miles of pristine beachfront under military control since before World War II — an ideal place for special operations units from across the military to practice, test range manager Glenn Barndollar told The AP last year.
The Black Hawk entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979. Modified versions have also been developed for the Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
Here is a list of some of the noncombat crashes of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, the model that crashed during a nighttime training mission off the Florida coast, killing seven Marines and four soldiers.
- The Black Hawk entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979. Modified versions have also been developed for the Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
- MARCH 10 -- Eleven killed when an Army helicopter crashes into the water off Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
- DEC. 21, 2006 -- Three killed when Army helicopter crashes on a mountain near Seattle.
- NOV. 29, 2004 -- Seven killed when Army helicopter from Fort Hood, Texas, hits television transmission tower and crashes.
- FEB. 12, 2001 -- Six killed and 11 injured when Army helicopter crashes during a nighttime training exercise on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.
- JUNE 18, 1996 -- Six killed and 28 injured when Army helicopter crashes during a mock rescue at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
- MARCH 8, 1988 -- 17 killed when two Army helicopters collide during a nighttime train mission near Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
- MARCH 13, 1985 -- Eight killed in Army training flight at Fort Bragg.
- OCT. 4, 1983 -- Two killed when Army helicopter crashes in Caribbean Sea near entrance to Panama Canal.
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