The wreckage of the missing Lynx helicopter has been found on the seabed off the coast of Cornwall, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed, but there was no word on the fate of the crew.
An MoD spokesman said: "I can confirm the wreckage of the Lynx has been located on the bottom of the seabed following searches off the coast of Cornwall.
"An underwater TV camera system will be deployed to check the wreckage later today. Searches continue on the surface."
Contact with the aircraft was lost just after 7p.m. last night as it carried out a sweep 17 nautical miles off Lizard Point, Cornwall.
Earlier today a lifeboat crew searching for the missing helicopter, which had four people on board, reported finding wreckage and detecting the smell of aviation fuel.
Members of the crew of the Falmouth all-weather lifeboat, who joined the search for the Lynx, said they had recovered pieces of wreckage from the sea.
They also reported detecting "a strong smell of aviation fuel" in the water, an RNLI spokeswoman said.
The Royal Navy helicopter had been scrambled after two Navy ratings on board the frigate HMS Montrose heard cries for help coming from the water.
An MoD spokesman said: "The helicopter was responding to an earlier possible man-over-board alarm raised by HMS Montrose and HMS St Albans, which were conducting a warfare training week.
"A detailed search of the area is continuing and the families of those on board the helicopter are being kept informed.
"Following a roll-call on HMS Montrose and HMS St Albans all personnel were accounted for. However the search for a man-over-board from another vessel has continued in tandem with the search for the Lynx."
A French warship was in the area and had also said it had accounted for its personnel.
The largest piece of the wreckage they found in an area of the sea about 20 miles south-east of Lizard Point was the size of a coffee table-top.
Falmouth Coastguard said a 10-mile exclusion zone had been put in place around the spot where the missing helicopter was last recorded.
A Coastguard spokesman said it was normal practice to introduce an exclusion zone to keep vessels unconnected with a search out of the area.