Three killed in Canadian military helicopter crash

MONTREAL, July 13 (Reuters) Three Canadian military personnel were killed and four injured today after their search and rescue helicopter crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a training exercise.

Canadian Forces said the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from the 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron crashed into the ocean off Canada's east coast, near Canso, Nova Scotia.

''Last night, 413 Squadron lost three members of our family,'' Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Hughes, the squadron's commanding officer, told reporters at the Greenwood military base in Nova Scotia.

''There are obviously lots of questions as to what happened, but the answers to this will only come after the investigation is under way and complete.'' The injuries suffered by the surviving four crew were not considered life-threatening.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered his condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the crash.

''Canada mourns the loss of these men,'' he said.

The crash happened shortly after midnight local time during a training exercise with a Canadian Coast Guard vessel.

Military officials said the cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the Air Force halted training flights on the fleet of 15 Cormorants. The aircraft was recovered and placed on a Coast Guard ship.

''We are very confident in the safety of the aircraft,'' Hughes said, despite incidents in the past that have prompted the Air Force to place flying time restrictions on the Cormorant.

In 2005, a search and rescue squadron based in Ontario temporarily halted the use of Cormorants after problems with the helicopter's tail rotor assembly.

In April 2004, Canada imposed flying restrictions on its Cormorant fleet following a crash in Britain in March of a Royal Navy Merlin Mk1, a variant of the aircraft.

The Cormorant and the Merlin Mk1 share similar components, including the tail rotor half-hub assembly, according to Canada's Department of National Defence.

Canada took delivery of 15 Cormorants, made by Anglo-Italian consortium AgustaWestland, in 2001-02 and the fleet has been fully operational since 2004. The three-engine Cormorant is a search and rescue variant of the AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter.

AgustaWestland is a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica SpA.

REUTERS KD HS2243