(LA PUSH)- The Coast Guard says three crew members of a U.S.  Coast Guard helicopter died yesterday when it went down off the Washington coast near La Push.

In a press release, authorities say a fourth member was rescued and is recovering at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with non-life threatening injuries.

The Coast Guard says an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crashed around 9:30 a.m. yesterday morning in the waters off James Island near La Push.

The helicopter and its 4-person crew departing U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Oregon, and were en route to Sitka, Alaska, when the crash occurred.

The Clallam County Public Utilities District says the helicopter hit a power line between La Push and James Island.

The Coast Guard says power lines were found down in the area when rescuers arrived, but it was not clear yesterday if they had something to do with the crash.

Authorities say the power lines were about 250 feet above the water and that they would have been posted on aeronautical charts which the crew would have had with them.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 10:40 am and is filed under News Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.