3rd Marine Aircraft Wing / Public Domain
On April 3rd, 2018, a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion, a transport helicopter, crashed while performing a routine mission over a Californian desert.
The crash is now one of three in the last 24 hours, as on April 4th a United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II crashed while training in Africa followed by an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashing later that day. The statuses of the pilots of both crashes have not been released yet.
MEDIA RELEASE: A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed in the vicinity of El Centro, California, at approximately 2:35 p.m. Tuesday during a routine training mission. pic.twitter.com/7xbN9iFzsZ
— 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (@3rdmaw) April 4, 2018
The tweet above was posted immediately after the crash. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is a major Marine Corps aviation combat element whose mission is to “provide combat ready expeditionary aviation forces capable of short notice world wide deployment to Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), fleet and unified commanders.”
The Air Wing is for now withholding the identities of the airmen until the remains can be positively identified and their families notified.
The cause of the crash is being investigated at this very moment.