Mexican military helicopter crashes at sea, leaving 3 Navy personnel dead and 2 missing

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Navy says one of its helicopters crashed into the Pacific shortly after taking off from the deck of a patrol ship, leaving three navy personnel dead and two more missing. The Navy said searches continued for those still missing after Wednesday’s accident. It marks the second military mishap within the space of about two weeks in Mexico that have a left a total of about a dozen service members dead. The Eurocopter Panther helicopter took off from a long-distance ocean patrol ship about 200 nautical miles southwest of the Pacific coast port of Lazaro Cardenas. Mexico’s Navy frequently patrols that area to detect clandestine sea-borne cocaine shipments.