7 February 2024
SAN DIEGO (KSWB/KUSI) — A military helicopter was reported missing Wednesday morning, Cal Fire and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to Nexstar’s KSWB.
Cal Fire said a call came in around 2:20 a.m. reporting that the aircraft, carrying five Marines onboard, had not shown up to its destination. The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, similar to the one pictured below, was flying from Creech Air Force Base, northwest of Las Vegas, to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Tuesday when the aircraft was reported overdue.
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. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
The U.S. Marine Corps confirmed around 6:20 a.m. that the helicopter is assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
The last reported area of the helicopter was north of Interstate 8 and Kitchen Road, which is located southeast of Pine Valley, about 35 miles east of their destination.
Search and rescue teams have been deployed to the area, which officials have described as snow-covered and hard to access.
Cal Fire’s Mike Cornette told KSWB that crews did try to search the area on foot, but were unable to find anything. He added that crews were awaiting vehicles that were better equipped to search in the terrain, including drones and additional aircraft.
The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is coordinating search and rescue efforts with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the Civil Air Patrol.
It was not immediately known what time the helicopter left Creech nor what time they were due to arrive. Waves of heavy downpours hit the area throughout the night and snow was forecast for San Diego County mountains.
The Super Stallion serves as a transport chopper used for heavy lifting. In 2018, a Super Stallion carrying four Marines from MCAS Miramar crashed in El Centro, California, killing everyone on board.
In 2020, another CH-53E Super Stallion from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was forced to make an emergency landing in a field near Interstate 15 outside San Diego after receiving a cockpit warning indicating a generator failure. No one was injured in that incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.