Salvage continues at Florida military helicopter crash site

Crews lower a piece of a Black Hawk helicopter onto a barge in the Santa Rosa Sound near Pritchard Point, Friday, March 13, 2015, in Navarre, Fla. The helicopter, which crashed in dense fog during a training mission, was carrying seven Marines based in North Carolina along with four National Guard soldiers from Louisiana. All were killed. (AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily News, Nick Tomecek) Crews lower a piece of a Black Hawk helicopter onto a barge in the Santa Rosa Sound near Pritchard Point, Friday, March 13, 2015, in Navarre, Fla. The helicopter, which crashed in dense fog during a training mission, was carrying seven Marines based in North Carolina along with four National Guard soldiers from Louisiana. All were killed. (AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily News, Nick Tomecek)

By Associated Press March 14, 2015 2 min read

MIAMI (AP) – The largest sections of a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed during a nighttime training mission were pulled Saturday from the waters off Florida’s Panhandle amid efforts to recover the remains of all seven Marines and four soldiers who were killed.

The salvage operations that had been interrupted Friday night by bad weather were expected to finish late Saturday, said Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Andy Bourland.

The debris pulled from about 25 feet of water in the Santa Rosa Sound off Navarre will be moved to the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field to be examined by investigators.

“We will continue our recovery efforts as needed to ensure we collect as many human remains as possible,” Bourland said.

The probe into the crash is being led by the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, based in Fort Rucker, Alabama. Investigators already are on site, Bourland said.