Five US marines have died after helicopter crash in California’s snowy mountains

Fire crews were alerted to the missing Super Stallion aircraft at 02:20 local time, Wednesday, before being dispatched to an area near Lake Morena, California. The aircraft was located hours later in Pine Valley in the Cuyamaca Mountains, about 72 kilometres from the aircraft’s destination.

“It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I share the loss of five outstanding marines from 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the ‘Flying Tigers,’” said Maj Gen Michael J Borgschulte, Commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in a statement on Thursday.

The Marine Corps said the troops were on a training flight from Las Vegas to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, near San Diego.

First introduced to active service in 1981, the CH-53E Super Stallion is usually used in combat to carry troops or transports supplies.

While the aircraft is considered a mainstay of Marine Corps aviation, in recent years there have been several serious accidents involving the helicopter.

In April 2018, four troops were killed on a training mission when their Super Stallion crashed near El Centro, California.

Further, in January 2016, two Super Stallions collided over the Pacific near Oahu in Hawaii resulting in the deaths of 12 marines.

Last month an air ambulance helicopter operated by Air Evac Lifeteam crashed at around 23:23 hrs near the city of Weatherford, Oklahoma.