BY KAREN KUCHER
The San Diego Union-Tribune
A Marine helicopter that went missing late Tuesday in a mountainous area of East County has been located by searchers, but Marine officials haven’t released any information about its five crew members, who they said were still missing.
A statement from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said the copter was located by civil authorities near Pine Valley at 9:08 a.m. Wednesday.
Search and rescue efforts were under way. No information was immediately available about the condition of the helicopter.
The military said it was managing the efforts, using assets on the ground and in the air to locate the crew. The search was being done in coordination with the Sheriff’s Department and federal, state and local agencies, according to the statement.
Earlier, a Cal Fire spokesperson said drones from the U.S. Border Patrol were going to be used to search for the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, along with personnel in all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles in snowy, rugged terrain.
The search began after Cal Fire San Diego received a report around 2:20 a.m. that the military helicopter was missing. The Marine Corps said the helicopter was on a routine training mission.
Crew on three fire engines and an ambulance launched a search based on the aircraft’s last known location, a mountainous area north of Interstate 8 and east of Kitchen Creek Road near Fred Canyon, but the chopper wasn’t found, Cal Fire spokesperson Mike Cornette said.
The National Weather Service said there was a mix of snow, rain and strong winds reported in the greater Pine Valley area around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, which officials said was the last time the aircraft was heard from.
The helicopter was flying as a strong storm lashed San Diego County, bringing record rainfall, thunderstorms and even a tornado warning to the region earlier Tuesday.
The missing Marines are assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. They were flying from Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev., to Miramar when the aircraft was reported overdue, a Marine spokesperson said.
Earlier, a Cal Fire spokesperson said drones from the U.S. Border Patrol were going to be used to search for the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, along with personnel in all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles in snowy, rugged terrain.
The search began after Cal Fire San Diego received a report around 2:20 a.m. that the military helicopter was missing. The Marine Corps said the helicopter was on a routine training mission.
Crew on three fire engines and an ambulance launched a search based on the aircraft’s last known location, a mountainous area north of Interstate 8 and east of Kitchen Creek Road near Fred Canyon, but the chopper wasn’t found, Cal Fire spokesperson Mike Cornette said.
The National Weather Service said there was a mix of snow, rain and strong winds reported in the greater Pine Valley area around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, which officials said was the last time the aircraft was heard from.
The helicopter was flying as a strong storm lashed San Diego County, bringing record rainfall, thunderstorms and even a tornado warning to the region earlier Tuesday.
The missing Marines are assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. They were flying from Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev., to Miramar when the aircraft was reported overdue, a Marine spokesperson said.
The CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter used to transport troops and equipment that also can fit on amphibious warfare ships.
In April 2018, four Miramar-based Marine helicopter crew members were killed when a CH-53 helicopter crashed about 15 miles west of El Centro during a training mission.
In that instance, the helicopter had flown out of the Marine base in Twentynine Palms to practice landings in unimproved zones when it crashed. In 2020, families of the Marines who were killed sued the makers and manufacturers of aircraft parts.
Staff writers Gary Robbins and Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.
