SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Coast Guard says hope is dwindling of finding nine people who went missing when a U.S. Coast Guard plane collided with a Marine Corps helicopter and the rescue mission is now classified as a recovery effort.
Petty Officer First Class Allison Conroy said Sunday that after over 60 hours of searching over 644 square miles of ocean, there was little chance of finding survivors among the seven military personnel aboard the Coast Guard C-130 and the two in the Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter.
Coast Guard officials were beginning the investigation into what caused the crash.
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