overnight. investigators are trying to figure out why a military transport plane crashed in rural mississippi. the plane, a c-130, considered the workhorse of the u.s. military, it slammed into a soybean field and burst into flames immediately. all 16 people aboard are believed to have died. nbc s hans nicholls is following the story from the pentagon. hans, what happened? reporter: well, they don t know. there s one report that there may have been an engine failure, but a plane like this, it s got four engines, a turboprop, a kc-130, a refueling aircraft. as you said, it s a workhorse. these are planes that have flown thousands of hours with trained an seasoned pilots, a full crew. we do know where it originated from, cherry point, the marine air station in cherry point, north carolina. they re not giving a squadron details yet because they need to notify the next of kin. the investigation will continue and accelerate throughout the day, stephanie. we heard the president himself twe
hole to stabilize. florida has had 260 sinkholes reported in the last year. the philippines, the american military taking a major role in typhoon relief. 5,000 u.s. crew members aboard the uss george washington are expanding the search and rescue operations as the aircraft carrier serves as a nerve center for relief efforts. we have more as our military goes to work. reporter: i spent the afternoon with our marines on an osprey delivering food, water and medical supplies. 700,000 people have been displaced throughout the islands of central philippines. from island to island we made seven stops, even refueling in the air from a kc-130 to save time. time is everyone s concern here. there s so many stranded in the remote islands, six days since the typhoon hit. at the sight and sound of our
right here and now it is the u.s. marines doing heavy lifting. they have five giant kc-130 cargo aircraft like this one behind me and 215 marines in the initial deployment ferrying all kinds of supplies, forklifts, generators, water, medical supplies, food, sanitation and hygiene supplies, as well, to fight the looming public health crisis that faces this country and usaid has pledged $20 million initially for aid. the united nations sending out a flash appeal for help. they are just getting ramped up here. but they understand every hour counts. every hour indeed. understatement. my gosh. stay with abc news as we cover the pleas for help after this disaster. look for updates on america this morning and on good morning america. you can find out how to support the relief efforts going on. we have complete information for you at abcnews.com. here s the thing.
global hawk again. that s an asset that can fly down there, can be up airborne 36 hours. it s already in california. we used it in the california fires. those kind of assets, i believe, ought to be brought to bare. there are naval assets there. a kc 130, which has an mobile spring system that can lay a dispersant down on the water. so that stuff is coming in, but frankly, we haven t marshalled all the assets and helped bp and improve the communications between the two. by the way, i was very impressed with the press conference of governor jindal. he s moving out. he is doing things that the local at the local level and i hope bp supports him as well as the coast guard. gregg: we re all very impressed with your knowledge and experience of the situation. our viewers are probably saying to themselves, let s pull lieutenant out of retirement, and put him in charge. the ground swell of support may
base. it happened at camp pendleton in california. 15 marines taken to hospitals after a amphibious assault vehicle caught fire. here s abc s david kerley tonight. reporter: it was fire in an assault vehicle like this, during a training mission, that injured the 15 marines. while it is amphibious, the vehicle was on land when that fire started. the marines were medevaced to hospitals. five in critical condition. five others in serious condition, but there are no fatalities. recently, marines were using the aav-7 to rescue victims of the flooding from hurricane harvey in houston. this incident comes in a year with several deadly military accidents. 15 marines and a sailor died when a kc-130 crashed. three marines claimed in the crash of an osprey crash. and the two navy ships colliding with cargo ships, leaving a total of 17 sailors dead. training can often be as deadly as war. just last night in ft. hood, texas, during a training mission