Crew members aboard crashed helicopter identified
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma has released the names of the three Marines and a sailor killed when their search and rescue helicopter crashed in the Yuma desert Thursday. The base also identified a Marine who was injured in the crash and remains hospitalized at Yuma Regional Medical Center.
All five were crew members with Search and Rescue (SAR) attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron at MCAS Yuma.
Next of kin have been notified, according to a news statement released by the military Saturday morning.
The four who died in the crash were identified as:
-Maj. Cesar Y. Freitas, 35, a pilot, from Boulder, Colo.
-Capt. Bradley E. Walters, 33, a pilot, from Arlington, Texas.
-Sgt. Charles L. Osgood, 27, crew chief, from Phoenix.
-Hospitalman 2nd Class Brendon W. Sandburg, 25, a Navy corpsman assigned to the Branch Medical Clinic in Yuma, from Stuart, Fla.
Lance. Cpl. Brian D. Stahlhut, 21, is hospitalized in fair condition, according to Machele Headington, a YRMC spokeswoman.
The five were aboard an SAR helicopter that crashed 20 miles north of Yuma near the Colorado River, according to the MCAS Yuma public affairs office. The accident happened late Thursday afternoon during a routine training flight near the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. The helicopter was one of four SAR helicopters based at MCAS Yuma.
Communication with the helicopter was lost at about 4 p.m. Thursday. The wreckage was found about midnight by another SAR team, according to base officials.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, MCAS Yuma officials said.
"On behalf of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, I extend our deepest condolences to the family members of the Marines and sailor," Col. Ben Hancock, MCAS Yuma commanding officer, said in the news statement. "Devotion to duty, patriotism and selflessness are hallmarks of search and rescue crew members. They were outstanding members of this command and as a close-knit family we mourn their loss."
----
Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@ yumasun.com or 539-6860. Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Story updated August 20, 2007.
