Initial reports Wednesday morning indicated that said the missing military helicopter from Camp Pendleton may have been spotted in Nepal. However, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command told the Mili...
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Reports Wednesday morning indicated that said the missing military helicopter from Camp Pendleton may have been spotted in Nepal. However, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command told the Military Times that a missing Marine helicopter has not been spotted, despite earlier reports from the Deutsche Presse Agentur news agency indicating that the helicopter's location may have been determined to be in the Tamakoshi region, north of Kathmandu.
"As of right now we have not located the aircraft. We're just trying to go through basically very methodically, thoroughly and efficiently to make sure that we do the best we can to do a good job in finding them," said Capt. Laura Pattawi.
CBS News 8 has learned that one of the crew members is reportedly Eric Seaman of Murrieta.
As of this report, we do not know Seaman's status, or the status of any of those aboard the missing Camp Pendleton-based helicopter. However, the helicopter had six Marines and two Nepalese soldiers on board.
The U.S. Marine Corps told CBS News 8 that the last radio communication they had with that chopper was to indicate the chopper was low on fuel.
"The last call out, as you know, from what we heard is that there was a low fuel problem. After that we didn't hear anything else," said Pattawi.
The Camp Pendleton-based Yankee went missing late Monday while delivering aid to earthquake survivors in Nepal.
A representative from the U.S. Marine Corps said that the U.S. government is hopeful the aircraft did not crash, but instead made an emergency landing and could have difficulty communicating via radio because of the rough terrain.
"They're trained for the highest standards of safety, under the most duress. They go through years of flight school to prepare for missions such as this. So we're faithful on this end that they've done all that they can to be prepared for and to face whatever challenges they may face," said Pattawi.
Meanwhile, two Hueys with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 are searching for the missing chopper. In addition, a battalion-sized Nepalese ground force has also moved into the area to assist with the search.
The chopper, which belongs to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469, went missing hours after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck midway between Kathmandu and Mount Everest late Monday.
