Cameraman Dies In Navy Chopper Crash

Four Sailors Also Injured In Crash In Bahrain

(CBS)  A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Gulf on Friday, killing an American television cameraman and injuring four sailors, the U.S. Navy said.

An American military official told reporters in Washington that a Navy SH-60B helicopter crashed into the North Arabian Gulf about 80 miles west of Bushehr, Iran.

"There were five people on board the helicopter. Four of the Navy personnel survived, but a civilian cameraman from KCBS television in Los Angeles died in the incident," Brig. Gen. John Rosa, the deputy operations director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon press conference.

The CBS-owned station identified him as Emmy-award winning photographer Larry Greene. The veteran Channel 2 photographer had been a Los Angeles newsman for more than 24 years, all with KCBS-TV, and was working on features on the Sept. 11 anniversary for the station's Special Assignment unit.

"He was one of the best ever," KCBS-TV assignment editor Steve Crawford told CBSNews.com.

The 50-year-old Greene is survived by a wife and two sons.

"The helicopter had been hovering over a Syrian-flagged vessel to observe a health inspection boarding, and it crashed when the rotor blade struck the ship's mast," Rosa said.

The helicopter was attached to the cruiser USS Mobile Bay and crashed while on "normal Maritime Interdiction Operations," Cmdr. Jeff Alderson of the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet said.

One of the four sailors onboard the helicopter was flown to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington for treatment. Three others were taken to an undisclosed location, Alderson said.

The sailors' injuries were not serious, he added.

The navy was investigating the cause of the crash.

The ships of the 5th Fleet take part in an operation to enforce U.N. sanctions on Iraq, stopping freighters suspected of illegally carrying Iraqi oil.