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8 bodies recovered from U.S. helicopter crash site; pilot identified

16 May 2015 20:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Eight bodies have been found at the site where a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed while on a relief mission in Nepal, the country's military said Saturday, APA reports quoting CNN.

The wreckage of the Huey helicopter was found in a rugged area of Gorthali, with parts scattered around at about 11,200 feet, according to the Nepalese Army. They investigating at the site, along with U.S. military personnel.

The helicopter was carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepali service members when it went down; it was reported missing Tuesday.

The cause of the crash remained unknown, said Col. John Armellino, chief of staff for the American Joint Task Force 505 operating in Kathmandu.

A team of about two dozen Nepali special forces and five U.S. Air Force pararescuemen have arrived at the site, Armellino said.

An investigation into the crash could take weeks or months, he said.

The bodies had yet to be removed from crash site as of Saturday afternoon, Nepali army spokesman Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said.

The pilot has been identified as 31-year-old Marine Capt. Chris Norgren of Wichita, Kansas, according to his father, Ron Norgren, who spoke to reporters Friday.

"He loved to fly, and he went through rigorous training sessions at Camp Pendleton," the father said, referring to the Marine facility in Southern California.

"He was a very compassionate and caring person," his mother, Terri Norgren, told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "He wanted to help people. That's the whole reason he went over there. He told me 'Mom, somebody's got to do this. And this is what I'm supposed to be doing.'"

"He was doing things he loved," Ron Norgren added. "He loved to help people and he loved to fly. And he was just incredible."

Capt. Norgren played football in high school in Wichita and in college at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, where he graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering and mathematics, according to his father. The 2007 yearbook listed him as freshman defensive lineman at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds.

While in school, Norgren was an overachiever. "If he got a B or a C, he was upset," his father said.

After finishing college and officer training school, Norgren spent some time coaching the football team at his high school, Bishop Carroll, in Wichita, according to his family. "They're still using some of the techniques he learned in officer training school over at Bishop Carroll," his father said.