Air traffic controllers lost contact with the military plane shortly before it crashed Monday in a soybean field on the western edge of Leflore County, a Marine commanding officer said today.
“Indications are something went wrong at cruise altitude,” Marine Reserve Brig. Gen. Bradley S. James said at a press conference in Itta Bena this morning.
Officials are still sorting through the wreckage to try to figure out what caused the KC-130 to go down, killing all 16 military members aboard.
James said that air traffic control lost contact with the plane at 4 p.m. He indicated that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages.
Military officials have said that although the FBI is assisting in the investigation, foul play has been ruled out.
Meanwhile, the search was continuing today for the remaining bodies of the 15 Marines and one Navy sailor who were killed. It was unclear this morning how many of the bodies had been recovered. As of Tuesday, the count was at 12.
Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said the large debris field — estimated at 2 to 3 miles over two different farmers’ fields — and the heavily vegetated rural terrain has made the recovery operation difficult.
“Debris is everywhere, and that is what they are trying to collect now,” he said.
According to Banks, around 200 individuals have been a part of the search since the plane went down. He said he expects it will take five or six more days to sift through the wreckage and clean up the site where the plane crashed.
James said the names of the victims were being withheld until all of their families are contacted. He said he expected a roster of the dead would be released in a few days.
Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher reinforced a warning to the public, issued on Facebook the day before by Gov. Phil Bryant, to not remove debris from the area and that anyone taking something could be prosecuted. Among the items believed to be strewn around the debris field are guns and ammunition that the plane was carrying.
“We have a pretty large area to recover,” Fisher said at today’s press conference. “There are items that are going to be recovered by teams on the ground. Some of these may be unsafe. ... It is very important to note none of this should be touched.”
Fisher said that an ordnance team may be triggering some explosions to render the ammunition safe. “If the public hears a small explosion in that regard, there should be no need for alarm,” he said.
Fisher said if anyone finds either guns or ammunition from the plane, they should call the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at 1-800-ATFGUNS (1-800-283-4867).
Sheriff’s deputies and state troopers have been trying to control access to sites, but the broad area and number of roads makes that difficult. Bryant has asked people to stay away.
Tuesday was spent focusing on rescue, recovery, searching for more evidence and preserving the crash site, said Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks, who is no relation to Ricky Banks.
The fire chief, who served in the Army Reserve for 12 years, said the military connection with the victims made the job particularly difficult.
“It adds an extra emotional layer when you have such a connection to men and women in uniform, even if you don’t know them personally,” he said.
James confirmed that six of the Marines and the Navy sailor were from Camp Lejeune 2nd Marine Raider Battalion in North Carolina and were on their way for pre-deployment training in Yuma, Arizona. He said the other nine Marines killed were from the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.
The Marine transport plane belonged to a reserve unit in Newburgh. The flight originated at the Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. It was en route to El Centro, California, before heading to a final destination in Yuma.
“It was a logistics mission, which is the transportation of personnel and equipment, taking folks from Point A to Point B,” Captain Andrew Chrestman, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Forces, said Tuesday.
The KC-130 is used to refuel planes in flight and to transport cargo and troops.
The bulk of the plane crashed about a mile south of U.S. 82, near the Leflore-Sunflower County line. The location is off Moorhead-Itta Bena Road, east of Mount Pleasant Church and about 4 miles east of Moorhead.
Witnesses have claimed to have seen pieces of the aircraft come off during flight. They said they heard low, rumbling explosions when the plane was still high in the sky Monday, saw the aircraft spiraling toward the flat, green landscape and spotted an apparently empty parachute floating toward the earth.
It was the deadliest Marine Corps air disaster since 2005, when a transport helicopter went down during a sandstorm in Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a sailor.
Will Nobile, a catfish farmer, told The Associated Press he was inside his office Monday afternoon when he heard an unusually loud rumble in the sky.
“It sounded like a big thunderstorm,” Nobile said. “Not one big explosion, but a couple of second-long explosions. ... A long, steady rumble is what it was.”
He walked outside to see what was making the noise in the cloudless afternoon and saw a “gray streak”“ disappear behind trees, and then thick black smoke rising.
Regional and national media, including representatives from the CBS and ABC networks, have been camping outside the Leflore County-owned business incubator. The Itta Bena facility, located across the highway from Mississippi Valley State University, is being used as the headquarters for the recovery effort of local, state and federal officials.
Jeff Martin, a correspondent for WAAY-31 in Huntsville, Alabama, has had friends and family in the Air Force.
“You never want that knock on your door,” he said. “It is difficult to cover because you know 16 families are getting a knock on their door that they are never going to see their loved ones again.”
CBS Newspath correspondent, Don Champion expects he will be in the area at least until Thursday covering the tragedy.
Anything involving the military is a big deal and it “always peaks national interest,” Champion said. “I am moved by the community support after such a tragedy.”
The Greenwood City Council was among those who pitched in. It provided food Tuesday night for first responders, military personnel and other government agencies involved in the search-and- recovery effort.
“We are here to help in any way we can,” said Mayor Carolyn McAdams.
She said the work of the Greenwood Fire Department, Greenwood-Leflore Emergency Management Agency and the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department has been “spectacular.”
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
