WASHINGTON -- Naval investigators searched Thursday for what caused a Marine helicopter that once ferried President Clinton to the USS Roosevelt to crash in southern Maryland during a test flight, killing four crewmen.
A Marine Corps spokesman said the VH-60 helicopter, which was stationed at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, crashed at 1:25 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Charles County, Md., on the opposite side of the Potomac River.
At the time of the mishap, the helicopter was not on a mission for the White House but was on a routine test flight following maintenance work, officials said. It is not the type of helicopter the president usually flies and which is designated Marine One.
Heavily-armed Marine guards sealed off the crash site and naval and federal safety experts were investigating.
At the White House, spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said that though Clinton did not usually fly aboard VH-60s, he was flown to visit the aircraft carrier offshore this year on the very aircraft that crashed.
The crash prompted the Pentagon to ground this type of Blackhawk helicopters stationed at the Quantico Marine Base pending completion of the investigation.
'The similar types of aircraft, the commander of the squadron has directed that they not be flown,' Pentagon spokesman Bob Hall said.
He said the restriction applies only to the unit involved in the crash, Marine Helicopter Squadron 1, and only to its VH-60N Blackhawk helicopters.
Myers stressed that the helicopter normally designated Marine One when the president is aboard is safe.
The dead were identified as Maj. William S. Barkley Jr., Hickory, N. C., the pilot; Capt. Scott J. Reynolds, Wausau, Wis., the co-pilot, who Myers said had previously flown Clinton; and Staff Sgt. Brian D. Haney, North Ridgeville, Ohio, and Sgt. Timothy D. Sabel, Ripon, Wis., both crewmembers.
Clinton said he and his wife were 'greatly saddened' by the deaths.
'Hillary's and my thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of these dedicated airmen. I am sure I speak for all Americans in expressing our nation's deepest condolences.'
