KIMBALL, Minn. _ The wreckage of a missing National Guard helicopter was found Thursday evening in Stearns County, about two hours after it disappeared while on a routine maintenance flight.
There was no official word on the fate of the three crew members aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk, but footage of the crash site showed extensive wreckage, and air ambulances were called off. In a minute-long news conference at 5:30 p.m., Chief Deputy Dan Miller confirmed the crash but would not comment on the fate of the crew. Another news conference will be held later Thursday.
The copter was found in a farm field south of Cold Spring after an intensive search involving multiple public safety agencies.
The Guard lost contact with the helicopter just after 2 p.m. local time while it was conducting a maintenance test flight, according to a National Guard statement. The Black Hawk took off from the Army Aviation Flight Facility near the St. Cloud Airport, according to National Guard officials.
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.
There was no tracking beacon aboard the aircraft, according to the audio.
"See if they have an ability to track it for us, but it has been lost on radar," one dispatcher said, looking for an approximate location. Authorities estimated the helicopter would have traveled six to 10 miles in the 10 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 (MART), which includes St. Paul firefighters, soon joined the search.
The crash site is roughly 1 { miles from the Pearl Lake Lodge in Marty, Minn.
A 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."
Gov. Tim Walz planned to speak near the crash site about 7 p.m. Earlier, he postponed a tree-lighting ceremony scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the governor's residence in St. Paul.
