ST. CLOUD — A Minnesota National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter carrying three crew members has crashed south of St. Cloud after it lost contact with the base Thursday afternoon.

According to emergency scanner traffic, the helicopter was found by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper just after 4 p.m. near Pearl Lake, just south of Marty. The status of the crew members is unknown.

Stearns County Chief Deputy Dan Miller addressed the media at 5:45 p.m. at Holy Cross School in Kimball. He confirmed the helicopter crashed at approximately 2:15 p.m. near Marty.

Gov. Tim Walz will address the press, along with the Minnesota National Guard, at the school at around 7 p.m., according to his spokesperson.

According to emergency scanner traffic, the helicopter took off from St. Cloud at about 1:55 p.m. and called mayday about nine minutes after takeoff.

"We do not have contact with the helicopter but we do not quite yet know what the situation is," Minnesota National Guard Master Sgt. Blair Heusdens said after the base lost contact with the aircraft. "We're working to figure it out."

Minnesota National Guard tweeted at 4:09 p.m. that the helicopter had three Minnesota National Guard personnel on board.

The helicopter was "conducting a maintenance test flight that originated from St. Cloud, Minnesota," a tweet states.

Sky conditions at the time the helicopter took off were clear with 10-mile visibility, according to the National Weather Service's observations at St. Cloud Regional Airport.

All St. Cloud units were called to respond to the incident and many units were staged near the airport.

According to emergency scanner traffic, law enforcement was working to ping the location of passengers' cell phones in an attempt to locate the helicopter.

Minnesota State Patrol was called to bring in a helicopter to assist with the search.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office was actively investigating the scene as of 5 p.m. and was asking people to stay out of the area.

"Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our Guardsmen and our thoughts are with our soldiers and their families at this time," the Minnesota National Guard tweeted.

Walz — who served in the Army National Guard before eventually becoming a teacher and coach — canceled a tree-lighting ceremony Thursday, according to Teddy Tschann, the governor's spokesperson.

"(Walz) is in communication with the Minnesota National Guard and monitoring the situation as it develops," Tschann said.

This is a developing story; details may change. Check back with St. Cloud Times for more updates.

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