Navy seeks cause for helicopter crash

September 15, 1981

A mechanical problem, still unidentified, may have caused the crash of an antisubmarine helicopter in which three crewmen were missing in the Atlantic Ocean and presumed dead, the Navy said Monday. It was the fifth accident this year involving a US aircraft carrier.

Three others survived Sunday's crash in "near-perfect flight conditions" of the SH-3 from the carrier Forrestal, the Navy said.