H 3 Helicopter

The Air Force on Friday grounded its fleet of H-3 helicopters from all but emergency missions, describing the move as a safety precaution after two crashes this week. The order was issued by the Military Airlift Command, which said it would allow H-3s to "continue to fly search-and-rescue missions but restrict all other flying until a thorough investigation has been completed."

The Air Force on Friday grounded its fleet of H-3 helicopters from all but emergency missions, describing the move as a safety precaution after two crashes this week. The order was issued by the Military Airlift Command, which said it would allow H-3s to "continue to fly search-and-rescue missions but restrict all other flying until a thorough investigation has been completed."

A Navy helicopter flew an injured crewman from a Liberian-registry cargo ship 140 miles south of San Diego to a hospital in La Jolla, the Coast Guard reported. Giuseppe Arzani, an Italian seaman, was flown by an H-3 Helicopter to Scripps Memorial Hospital. He was released from the hospital after being treated for a cut at the base of his skull. The Coast Guard in San Diego received a call at 10:20 a.m.

A Marine Corps FA-18 fighter jet maneuvering 60 miles off the coast of Orange County crashed into the ocean near San Clemente Island on Monday, slightly injuring the pilot, who ejected to safety, military officials said. The name of the pilot was not released pending notification of relatives, but a Marine spokesman said he was not seriously injured and was listed in stable condition at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego. Sgt.

About 100 gallons of jet fuel spilled into the lower Otay Reservoir Thursday morning when a Navy helicopter had to make an emergency landing, a county Health Services Department spokeswoman reported. During a routine water landing training at Otay Lakes, an H-3 Navy helicopter lost power after the pilot shut off one of its engines and the second engine failed, said Ken Mitchell, public affairs officer for the Naval Air Station at North Island.

Escorted by its sleek successor, the U.S. Coast Guard's only remaining Sikorsky H-3 helicopter in San Diego lifted off from its bayside air station Tuesday and flew past Point Loma for the last time. The trusty H-3, one of four that had scanned the Pacific along the coast of San Diego County since 1969, was relocated to an Oregon air station and eventual retirement.

Sixteen people were snatched from death at sea in three dramatic Coast Guard rescues before dawn Tuesday as waves up to 28 feet high pounded the full length of the fog-bound California coast. Coast guard helicopters were still searching for one man missing off San Francisco after six of his colleagues were rescued after their sailing boat capsized. And all along the coast, authorities reported that scores of small craft were overdue because they had taken refuge in sheltered bays.

Sixteen people were snatched from death at sea in three dramatic Coast Guard rescues before dawn Tuesday as waves up to 28 feet high pounded the full length of the fog-bound California coast. However, one man was still missing off San Francisco. Six of his colleagues were rescued 10 hours after their sailboat had capsized. And all along the coast, authorities reported that scores of small craft were overdue because they had taken refuge in sheltered bays.

The blocky work boats have chugged their way up the long Pacific coastline from California, from Washington, Oregon and from all the little ports burrowed along the shoreline of Alaska. They have gathered here at the ready in the wind-tossed North Pacific--a vast armada of 4,000 vessels with names like Determined, Defiant, Steadfast and Resolution. It is morning. The weather is merciful. Aboard the fleet, throats are dry. Anxiety has clamped a pipe wrench down deep in the stomach.