~  “We train in the same conditions we fight”  ~

NAVARRE BEACH, Fla. — Seven Marines and four crewmembers are missing and presumed dead Wednesday after an Army helicopter crashed during a training exercise off the Florida Panhandle.

The area was under a fog advisory when the crash occurred Tuesday night near Eglin Air Force Base about 50 miles east of Pensacola. The extreme fog still present Wednesday morning impeded the search, preventing a Coast Guard helicopter from going airborne until about 1 p.m. CT.

“We’re still in search and rescue mode,” Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in an afternoon news conference in Hammond, La., the New Orleans suburb where the National Guard unit has its headquarters.

One large piece of the helicopter has washed up on shore. Officials also report finding some remains of victims. (more)