The Facebook page of the USS Mesa Verde was filled with dozens of well-wishes and thanks to God messages this morning, Tuesday, 2nd of September, 2014 a day after 25 Marines and U.S. Navy sailors survived the crash of a Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter as it tried to land on the amphibious transport dock in the open sea.
Seventeen Marines and eight Navy sailors were aboard the 16-ton Super Stallion copter. It fell into the Gulf of Aden as it was taking troops back to the Mesa Verde after a training exercise in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.The crash was not related to any hostile activity, the Navy said. Meanwhile both Marine and Navy officials are investigating what could have caused the crash.