MARTY, Minn. _ Three National Guard soldiers died Thursday afternoon when their helicopter on a routine maintenance test flight crashed into a farm field in Stearns County.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced the deaths Thursday night in a news conference held near the crash site.
"My heart breaks for the families, the friends and fellow soldiers," said Walz, who has a long history with the National Guard, having served for 24 years. "The coming days will be dark and difficult."
The UH-60 Black Hawk disappeared after sending a "mayday" alert just after 2 p.m., prompting an intensive search by several public safety agencies. The wreckage was found near dusk on the wooded edge of a field south of Cold Spring.
Footage of the crash site showed extensive wreckage, and air ambulances were called off shortly after the aircraft was found.
The helicopter was found just before dusk in a farm field south of Cold Spring after an intensive search involving multiple public safety agencies.
After hearing of the crash, the governor postponed a tree lighting ceremony that had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the governor's residence in St. Paul.
In a statement, the Guard said it lost contact with the helicopter just after 2 p.m., shortly after it took off from the Army Aviation Flight Facility near the St. Cloud Airport.
According to emergency dispatch audio from Stearns County, nine minutes after the copter left the St. Cloud airport, it sent a "mayday" alert. The crash happened at 2:15 p.m., Miller said.
At least two people saw the helicopter go down, according to the audio, which also said there was no tracking beacon aboard the aircraft. No fire or smoke was seen.
The witnesses reported that "it went down hard," one dispatcher said. Searchers estimated the helicopter would have traveled 6 to 10 miles in the nine minutes since leaving the airport.
Sherburne and Wright County deputies were the first to swarm to the area to search for the aircraft.
National Guard personnel, a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter equipped with thermal imaging cameras and the Minnesota Aviation Rescue Team, or MART, which includes St. Paul firefighters, soon joined the search. MART members were the first to spot the wreckage.
Dave Tannehill was the first in flight to help search for the missing copter. A flight instructor in St. Cloud since 2004, Tannehill said he brought a couple others with him for extra sets of eyes to help look.
"We were hoping to find a helicopter sitting in the middle of a field with a couple guys standing next to it looking for a ride. But not lucky enough to find that," he said.
Tannehill took off about 3 p.m. and was in the air for about an hour and a half. He circled the vicinity of the crash along with a military plane and police aircraft.
"It was bad news for everyone, and it was a quiet flight back," Tannehill said.
The crash site is roughly 1.5 miles from the Pearl Lake Lodge in Marty.
A lodge manager who answered the phone there Thursday evening said he witnessed rescue helicopters headed to the scene. "Prayers for everybody," he said. "I hope for a good outcome."
In June, two people died when a North Memorial helicopter crashed on approach to the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.
