HONOLULU \u2014 Trace elements of DNA have been found from\u00a0Marines\u00a0killed in a helicopter crash off Hawaii last month, the\u00a0Marine\u00a0Corps\u00a0said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DNA traces were found during search and rescue operations that ended on Jan. 19, Capt. Cassandra Gesecki, a spokeswoman for the III\u00a0Marine\u00a0Expeditionary Force, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The families of the identified\u00a0Marines\u00a0were notified. The\u00a0Marine\u00a0Corps\u00a0wouldn’t provide further information at this time about what was found, Gesecki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Twelve Hawaii-based\u00a0Marines\u00a0were killed when two helicopters crashed during nighttime training on Jan. 14. Both aircraft were CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters that were part of\u00a0Marine\u00a0Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Coast Guard initially reported that the choppers had collided, but the\u00a0Marines\u00a0said later it wasn’t yet known if there was a collision. The cause remains under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rescue crews spotted debris 2 1\/2 miles off of Oahu hours after the crash. The rescuers searched for the crew and aircraft for five days across waters spanning from the western coast of Oahu to the northeast corner of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
A Navy diving unit will use underwater robots to survey the area of the crash and map the debris field, as ocean conditions permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recovery and salvage operations may take several months to complete, but they may be extended depending on the size of the debris field and other factors, Gesecki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the\u00a0Marine\u00a0Corps\u00a0said a general had fired the helicopter squadron’s commander three days before the crash. Brig. Gen. Russell Sanborn, commander of the 1st\u00a0Marine\u00a0Aircraft Wing, said had lost confidence in the commander’s ability to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0Marines\u00a0said the commander is responsible for the training and readiness of the squadron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trace elements of DNA have been found from Marines killed in a helicopter crash off Hawaii last month, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":98702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2899],"class_list":["post-104947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"O6UXH56RTJAZDIB7QTSE3VGPYY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2016\/02\/03\/trace-elements-of-dna-found-from-hawaii-helicopter-crash\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n