WEBB, HERKIMER CO. (AP) -- Authorities say two U.S. defense department contractors aboard a small plane that crashed in a remote Adirondacks lake have been rescued unhurt by helicopters involved in the military exercise they were helping coordinate.
Vermont National Guard Lt. Col. Lloyd Goodrow says the crash happened during close air support combat training for state guard units east of the Army's Fort Drum.
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports the plane went down at about 9:00 a.m. Thursday in Herkimer County's Gull Lake, about 60 miles northeast of Syracuse.
A New York Guard spokesman says two of its Blackhawk helicopters heard the mayday calls and picked up the downed crew members.
Goodrow says the civilian plane was operating under a Department of Defense contract.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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