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Walz calls coming days "dark and difficult" following fatal National Guard helicopter crash

Governor Walz after National Guard helicopter crash
Entercom

Three Minnesota National Guard members are dead after the helicopter they were in crashed south of St. Cloud Thursday afternoon.

Roadways are closed heading into the area where the helicopter went down.


The names of the deceased will be withheld pending next of kin notification. An investigation is currently being conducted. Additional details will be provided as information becomes available.

— MN National Guard (@MNNationalGuard) December 6, 2019

In a tweet, the Minnesota National Guard said 28-year-old James A. Rogers Jr., 30-year-old Charles P. Nord, and 28-year-old Kort M. Plantenberg were the men who died when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Kimball, which is about 16 miles west of St. Cloud.

The soldiers were conducting a maintenance test flight.

Ground crews lost contact with the helicopter shortly after it took off on a maintentance test flight from St. Cloud Airport, and officials say there was a mayday call from the chopper about nine minutes after takeoff.

News helicopters in the area showed what clearly is emergency crews and the wreckage of a helicopter in some trees at the edge of a field on a farm outside of Kimball, which is about 10 miles southwest of the St. Cloud airport.