Marines: Downed plane’s problem started at cruising altitude

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is warning people not to pick up debris spread up to 5 miles around the site of a Marine Corps plane that crashed Monday in a rural soybean field. Officials say it could take as long as a week to collect all the debris. The cause of the cargo plane crash, which killed 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman, remains under investigation. The Marines said Tuesday the air tanker, which had personal weapons and small-arms ammunition aboard, was based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, N.Y., and was headed to California. The military has not yet released the names of those killed. Although the FBI has joined the investigation into what happened, a Marine spokesman insisted the agency did not suspect foul play. Witnesses described hearing steady, rumbling explosions before the plane began spiraling toward the ground. A commander with the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing said Wednesday it appeared whatever went wrong happened when the plane was at its cruising altitude.