Marine helicopter crashes; 4 presumed dead A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a routine training mission Tuesday in California, killing the four crew members aboard, in the Marines' second aircraft accident in 24 hours.

A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a routine training mission Tuesday in California, killing the four crew members aboard, the Marine Corps said.

The heavy lift helicopter was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and was flying near El Centro, California, when the crash occurred at approximately 2:35 p.m. local time, the Marines said in a statement released early Wednesday.

“The status of all four is presumed dead pending positive identification,” the Marine Corps said. Names would be withheld pending next-of-kin notification.



It was the second Marine Corps aviation crash to occur Tuesday. A Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jet crashed after takeoff in Djibouti Tuesday. The pilot ejected and was in stable condition, the Marines reported. The pilot and aircraft are assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 aboard the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima.

The Marines have intensively focused on improving the readiness of the CH-53E since the January 2016 collision of two Super Stallions off the coast of Hawaii, which killed 12 Marines.

An October 2017 crash of a CH-53 in Okinawa led the Marine Corps to temporarily ground its Japan-based fleet; no service members were injured in that crash, which destroyed the aircraft.

× Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Early Bird Brief - a daily roundup of military and defense news stories from around the globe. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Early Bird Brief.</s>Four Marines were killed when their helicopter crashed while they were practicing desert landings in Southern California, the Miramar air station in San Diego said Wednesday.

The Marines took off from a ground-combat center in the city of Twentynine Palms for the routine training mission on Tuesday.

The massive CH-53E Super Stallion crashed about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the south in a remote desert area just outside of El Centro, near the U.S.-Mexico border. There were no survivors.

The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Miramar air station in San Diego.

Practicing desert landings is a routine part of training, said Capt. Morgan Frazer with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

“We’re supposed to practice landing in austere environments,” Frazer said. “We’re not always going to have formal runways to land on so that’s part of the training.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation and could take months to determine, she said.

Weather doesn’t appear to be a factor.

“It was pretty much a warm clear day,” said Chief Deputy Thomas Garcia with the Imperial Valley Sheriff’s Office. “Nothing stormy or rainy or anything like that.”

The bodies of the Marines were recovered from the crash site late Tuesday and taken to a coroner’s facility, said Deputy Coroner Derrick Lindberg with the Imperial Valley Sheriff’s Office.

The Marine Corps will take custody of the bodies to conduct autopsies, he said.

“We ask that you keep these brave service members in your thoughts and prayers,” said a Facebook post by the nearby Naval Air Facility El Centro, one of the many agencies that responded to the crash site.

The names of the Marines were expected to be released later Wednesday, 24 hours after their relatives were notified, Frazer said.

President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the families, tweeting that his thoughts and prayers were with the fallen Marines.

“We pray for their families, and our great @USMC,” Trump tweeted .

The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest helicopter in the U.S. military and has been in service for more than 30 years. It is used for minesweeping and transport and can carry dozens of troops and tons of cargo.

Two CH-53Es collided off the coast of Oahu in Hawaii two years ago, killing 12 Marines.

Tuesday’s crash is the deadliest involving a Marine aircraft since a KC-130T transport plane went down in Mississippi last July, killing 15 Marines and a sailor.</s>Four people are presumed dead after a Marine helicopter crashed during a training mission in Southern California.

The CH-53E Super Stallion went down shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near El Centro, a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of the Miramar air station in San Diego, according to a base press statement.

The nearby Naval Air Facility El Centro messaged that the crash site was north of Plaster City, west of El Centro.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The names of the crewmembers will be withheld until 24 hours after their relatives are notified, the Miramar base said.

Tuesday's California crash is the deadliest involving a Marine aircraft since a KC130T transport plane went down in Mississippi last July, killing 15 Marines and a sailor.

The California crash also occurred on the same day that a Marine Harrier jet crashed during takeoff from an airport in the East African nation of Djibouti.

The pilot managed to eject and was being medically evaluated, military officials said.

The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest helicopter in the U.S. military. It is used for minesweeping and transport and can carry dozens of troops and tons of cargo.

Two years ago, 12 Marines died when two of the helicopters collided off the coast of Oahu in Hawaii.

Last October, a CH-53E helicopter crashed and burned in Okinawa but nobody was injured.

In 2005, 31 people died when a CH-53E helicopter went down in Iraq during a sandstorm.</s>On Tuesday, a CH-53E Super Stallion went down shortly after 2:30 p.m., during a training mission near El Centro, Calif.

FILE - In this Saturday Oct. 10, 2009, file photo, a U.S. military helicopter, the CH-53E Super Stallion, airlifts humanitarian aid to be dropped in affected regions around Pariaman, north of Padang, Indonesia. On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, a CH-53E Super Stallion similar to the one shown went down shortly after 2:30 p.m., during a training mission near El Centro, Calif., a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

A Marine helicopter crashed during a Southern California training mission and all four crew members were believed killed, the military said.

The CH-53E Super Stallion went down shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near El Centro, a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of the Miramar air station in San Diego, according to a base press statement.

The nearby Naval Air Facility El Centro messaged that the crash site was north of Plaster City, west of El Centro.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The names of the crewmembers will be withheld until 24 hours after their relatives are notified, the Miramar base said.

Tuesday’s California crash is the deadliest involving a Marine aircraft since a KC130T transport plane went down in Mississippi last July, killing 15 Marines and a sailor.

The California crash also occurred on the same day that a Marine Harrier jet crashed during takeoff from an airport in the East African nation of Djibouti. The pilot managed to eject and was being medically evaluated, military officials said.

Related: Five dead after helicopter crash in New York City’s East River

The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest helicopter in the U.S. military. It is used for minesweeping and transport and can carry dozens of troops and tons of cargo.

Two years ago, 12 Marines died when two of the helicopters collided off the coast of Oahu in Hawaii.

Last October, a CH-53E helicopter crashed and burned in Okinawa but nobody was injured.

In 2005, 31 people died when a CH-53E helicopter went down in Iraq during a sandstorm.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>A Marine Corps helicopter crashed Tuesday in California during a routine training mission and all four crew members aboard are presumed dead.

The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed near the city of El Centro, which is near the Mexico border, around 2:35 p.m., according to a statement from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The four crew members' identities have not been released yet pending 24 hours after notifying their families.

The CH-53 helicopters are used to transport heavy equipment and supplies, and are capable of lifting 16 tons, according to the Marines website.</s>A CH-53E Super Stallion crashed near Naval Air Field El Centro at roughly 2:30pm local time on Tuesday. An official release from the USMC states that the helicopter belonged to the Third Marine Aircraft Wing based out of MCAS Miramar in nearby San Diego. CH-53s transit through and train in the area regularly. The four crew members onboard the Super Stallion are presumed dead.

It's worth noting that the CH-53 crash occurred just hours after the loss of another Marine Corps aircraft—an AV-8B Harrier that crashed on takeoff in Djibouti, Africa. In that incident the pilot survived, having ejected from the stricken jet as it went out of control. We have no clue what caused this tragedy but the USMC's neglect of the CH-53 community is something that we have written about for years. A major reset program is underway to recapitalize the Super Stallion fleet and improve its availability that had plummeted to catastrophic levels after a decade and half of hard work in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the Army had invested heavily into resetting its helicopter fleet as it returned from battlefield operations overseas, the USMC had budgeted very little for similar services.

But even with the USMC's belated initiative to refurbish its CH-53E fleet, as recently as last November officials from the service told congress that CH-53 fleet was still in a poor state, with only 143 of the type in inventory against a mandated fleet of 200. What's worse is that of that truncated fleet, only 37% were flyable at any given time.

Other major crashes, most notably particularly deadly one in Hawaii, underlined just how low morale was in the Sea Stallion community and how hard sustaining even basic qualifications had become for crews. You can read all about the CH-53's tumultuous recent past and how the type's future still remains bright in this past War Zone feature. That source of hope comes in the form of the CH-53K King Stallion—a hideously expensive updated variant of the H-53, but one that packs indispensable utility for the UMSC. That helicopter is now progressing through testing at a fairly fast clip but is still at least a year away from entering operational service, and even then it will do so in limited capacity.

The USMC plans on buying 200 King Stallion helicopters to replace its rickety CH-53E fleet. Israel and Germany are also looking into purchasing the helicopter with a prototype having just been airlifted to Germany for display at the Berlin Air Show. But in the meantime the USMC will have to soldier on with its war-weary albeit slowly recovering Sea Stallion fleet. Hopefully they won't be called into battle in such a sorry state. An investigation is underway to find out the reason for this horrible incident, we will keep you informed if any new details become available.</s>The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed near the city of El Centro, which is near the Mexico border, around 2:35 p.m., according to a statement from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The four crew members' identities have not been released yet pending 24 hours after notifying their families.

The CH-53 helicopters are used to transport heavy equipment and supplies, and are capable of lifting 16 tons, according to the Marines website.</s>SAN DIEGO — A Marine helicopter has crashed during a Southern California training mission and authorities believe all four crew members were killed.

The military says the CH-53E Super Stallion went down shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near El Centro.

The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of the Miramar air station near San Diego.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Authorities aren’t releasing the names of the victims or their home towns.</s>A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter has crashed near El Centro, California, Tuesday afternoon during a routine training mission and the military says all four aboard are presumed dead.

"Four crew members were aboard" the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement. "The status of all four is presumed dead pending positive identification."

The helicopter went down at about 2:35 p.m. local time, the statement said. El Centro is about 100 miles east of San Diego.

The cause of the crash is being investigated, the statement said.

Earlier, Reach Air Medical quickly dispatched two helicopters to the crash site, a spokesperson, Donnie Wharton, told The Desert Review.

The newspaper describes the Super Stallion as "a heavy lift operator with three engines, seven blades [that] can carry up to 50 combat-ready [Marines] or 30,000 pounds of cargo."</s>A Marine helicopter crashed during a Southern California training mission and all four crew members were believed killed, the military said.

The CH-53E Super Stallion went down shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near El Centro, a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of the Miramar air station in San Diego, according to a base press statement.

The nearby Naval Air Facility El Centro messaged that the crash site was north of Plaster City, west of El Centro.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.
A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter carrying US Marines crashes near El Centro, California killing four people.