Report: FBI Agents Died In Fall From Helicopter

Two members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team died Friday while practicing how to quickly drop from a helicopter to a ship using a rope, reports the Virginian-Pilot .

The two special agents were fast-roping to the ship when the helicopter encountered difficulties and the agents fell "a significant distance," the FBI said in a statement obtained by the media outlet.

An unidentified law enforcement source told the Pilot the incident, which happened about 12 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, was caused by bad weather. Special Agents Christopher Lorek, 41, and Stephen Shaw, 40, likely died as a result of impact rather than drowning.

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