Guthrie sailor dies in crash

McALLEN, Texas — The type of Navy helicopter that crashed near Corpus Christi, killing an Oklahoman and two other crew members and injuring one, has a checkered safety history that makes it the Navy's most accident-prone helicopter.

The Navy identified the dead crewmen late Friday as Lt. Joshua Gross, 30, from Alameda, Calif., and Aviation Warfare Systems Operators Second Class Alexander LeMarr, 25, of Parker, Colo., and David Davison, 22, of Guthrie. Friday, the condition of the injured crew member was upgraded from critical to fair, said hospital spokeswoman Sherry Carr-Deer.

Investigations to determine what caused the MH-53E Sea Dragon from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi to crash in a muddy field could take months, but a check of the helicopter's accident history, referred to by the Naval Safety Center as "mishaps,” shows the work-horse helicopter has accidents more than twice as often as the Navy's other helicopters.

Since the Navy began flying Sea Dragons in 1984, 27 people, including Wednesday's victims, have died in crashes, according to the Naval Safety Center. Its rate of serious mishaps — more than $1 million in damage or a fatality per 100,000 flight hours — is 5.96. The average for Navy helicopters since 1980 is 2.26.

Wednesday's crash occurred a few miles south of Corpus Christi in sparsely populated farmland.

The wrecked helicopter lay at the base of a 1,000-foot television transmission tower, whose owner said it had been struck by the helicopter. The area had been surrounded by dense fog the night of the crash.