Crew Member Dead, Two Hospitalized After Navy Plane Crash Off Eastern Shore
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) -- One person was killed and two were injured after a U.S. Navy plane crashed in the water near the Maryland and Virginia state lines of the Eastern Shore, authorities confirmed.
The E2-D Hawkeye aircraft went down in the Chincoteague Bay Wednesday around 7:30 p.m.
Divers and first responders helped recover the body of a crew member who was found dead in the aircraft, officials said.
Two other crew members were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to the hospital for treatment. The survivors had non-life-threatening injuries, the Naval Air Force in Virginia confirmed.
Before the crash, officials said the crew was conducting routine flight operations near Wallops Island, Virginia.
The type of plane is used for surveillance, search and rescue missions and to warn against threats, according to the Navy's description of the E2-D Hawkeye.
Officials declined to immediately release the injured crewmembers' names, citing privacy concerns. They added that the name of the deceased crewmember won't be released until next of kin are notified.
Authorities said a salvage plan for the aircraft is being developed.
Ryan Whittington, a spokesman for Maryland's Ocean City Fire Department, told AP late Wednesday that his agency and several others responded after the plane went down in Chincoteague Bay, helping to remove the crewmembers.
The crash site is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east-southeast of Washington, D.C