3 victims of Black Hawk helicopter crash to be identified Saturday, Minnesota National Guard says

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Representatives from the Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama, were expected to arrive Friday to lead the investigation into the crash of a Minnesota National Guard helicopter.

All three crew members aboard died in the crash Thursday afternoon south of St. Cloud.

The Minnesota National Guard plans to release the names of the crew members on Saturday, following a 24-hour waiting period after notifying their families, according to Master Sgt. Blair Heusden.

Heusden said the Minnesota National Guard has officers who will reach out to the families of the crash victims. Each family will then be assigned another officer, who will help connect the families to support programs on a case-by-case basis, she said.

“They are assigned ... as long as the family needs them,” Heusden said.

Late Friday morning, deputies remained on roads leading near the crash site, described as the edge of farm field and wooded area about 15 miles southwest of St. Cloud, just outside of Marty.

"Our office is out there for scene security. We will have anywhere between two to three deputies at any given time out there," said Stearns County Captain Jon Lentz on Friday morning. "We are assisting the Army National Guard and taking direction from them."

Lentz said the sheriff's office will be providing assistance as long as the Guard is requesting it.

"The lost crew members are in the thoughts and prayers of everyone in the sheriff's office," Lentz said.

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter left the Guard's maintenance base next to St. Cloud Regional Airport around 2 p.m. for what the Guard described as a “maintenance test flight.” Nine minutes later its crew issued a mayday call. The wreckage was found about 4 p.m.

The Army Aviation Center describes its purpose as "training, educating and developing agile and adaptive Army aviation professionals."

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Black Hawk helicopter crash victims in Minnesota to be named Saturday