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Subscribe to RSSSeven Marines died when their helicopters collided in midair Wednesday night around the Arizona-California border. There were no survivors. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
Seven Marines died when their helicopters collided in midair Wednesday night around the Arizona-California border, defense officials told NBC News, after a number of recent training fatalities. There were no survivors.
The Marines, six stationed at Camp Pendleton in California and one in Yuma, Ariz., were conducting a routine training exercise at about 8 p.m. local time when their AH-1W "Cobra" and UH-1Y "Huey" helicopters collided, Marine officials said.
The crash occurred about two miles west of the Yuma Training Range Complex on federal land, Maj. Carl Redding, director of public affairs, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, wrote on his twitter account. The cause of the incident was under investigation.
"We fly every single day for the most part and, you know, relatively mishap free so it’s ... one of those rare and unfortunate occurrences that took place last night," said Cpl. Steven Posey of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in Miramar in Southern California.
Two Marines were on one of the helicopters, while five were on the other, Marine Capt. Staci Reidinger told KYMA-TV. The helicopters were based out of Camp Pendleton.
The identities of the Marines killed have not been released pending formal notification of next of kin.
The incident comes after a number of training fatalities in recent years. Last September, two Marines died when their AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter went down in Camp Pendleton, according to the Marine Corps Times. And in July, a Marine sergeant was killed in the crash of a UH-1Y Huey helicopter, also at Camp Pendleton, while five others onboard were injured, the Marine Corps Times reported.
Msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger contributed to this story.
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thats right , choppers can fly so many feet off the radar as well, so anything could have happened.
Never the less Thank you for your sacrifice. RIP
God bless them and the poor families. Thank you for your sacrifice!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Always faithful-USMC-67
Wheres the repubs , isnt this obamas fault , you hard working saints of the US !
Klog PLEASE call them HEROES! That's what Ol' Gutless and his Daddy started and its worked GREAT! Ever since Desert SCAM I, EVERYONE in a military uniform is a HERO and don't you forget it!
klog...this is as much O's fault as Katrina was Bush's. Leave politics out of it! And start complaining about finger pointing when the president stops!
Im just saying yall repubs blame everything on the democrats , by the way im in a military family , union and oh yes im a gun owner presently ,have a sgt in the marines in afganastan at this moment who just finished training in the arizona , so theres my point you republican saints always pointing the finger, think your more patrotic than anyone else because of your politics.
My condolences to the families of all of the individuals killed in this exercise. Unfortunately things like this do happen, it's been going on adinfinitum. My heart is breaking this morning as I'm thinking of the families of these individuals. It's not Marines, Airforce, Navy or whatever, they are our own. So we had an incident, horrible, travel I-95 or I-75 daily and tragedy happens, that's the way it is. As a retired Marine, I'm sitting here mourning the loss, I don't have any answers nor does anyone else who cares to address this issue.
All I ask is that people remain on topic and offer words of comfort and support as opposed to unfounded condemnation. No one wants to go out and kill themselves, bus drivers, truck drivers, pilots and mothers going shopping don't leave the house with the intention of creating mayhem, but stuff happens. Everyone of those Marines have parents, families and more than lilely small children. Guard your comments and show some sembelance of respect.
Thank you and Semper Fi
BigJJ Stooge - What's wrong buddy, you jealous of the marines? Don't disgrace your uniform. Gauging by your self imposed name, I'd say you have issues with your "short comings".
"BigJJ Stooge - What's wrong buddy, you jealous of the marines? Don't disgrace your uniform. Gauging by your self imposed name, I'd say you have issues with your "short comings"."
This diatribe coming from a guy with the name of Smoot Mahooty?
I am sorry to see this happen. More than likely it was human error as is most cases with accidents of any type. The aircraft have recorders on them so the investigators should hopefully be able to hear and see what happened to the aircraft to cause this loss of life. Aviation Safety is of utmost importance for the military and they take A LOT of time and money to try and prevent these accidents.
I salute those marines and give my condolences to their families and friends.
NEWS-FLASH - The military is a dangerous job and young men and women may die in the service of their country while performing their duties in war and in peace. THIS is why they deserve every benefit they receive on active-duty and when they retire. Today, Congress and others are cutting military benefits, increasing medical care fees, revamping retirement systems, and trying to balance the budget on the backs of those that have served - and continue to serve. When any of you read about yet another attack on benefits soldiers have earned, remember these Marines that died serving there country and the hundreds of thousands of other service-men and service-women that have given their lives for this nation, and SUPPORT them! Enough said.
God Bless you Marines!
Semper Fi brothers, RIP
Semper Fi brothers!
My condolences to the families and friends of these fine Marines.
Too bad the flag can't be flown half-mast for them, its already there for some used-up druggie.
What a sad comment. If your flag is flying half-mast, it should be in your mind that it is flying for these young people as well. If you are referring to Whitney Houston, she has done her part as well. Some people have one purpose, other people have another. I can imagine that many soldiers were comforted by Whitney's voice when she sang our National Anthem so beautifully. All God's children have a purpose. It is up to each, as individuals, as to whether or not they fulfill that purpose. But each is equally as important.
Do you realize she is part of the problem with the loosing drug wars here. Why should she be idolized for the younger generation to mimic? Who is at fault for all the killings at the southern borders? I don't think our soldiers in training are a cause of the drug wars.
Simper Fi...Semper Fi...God Bless Our Marines...and God Bless their Families and Friends...
I am a Vietnam War Veteran...back in the day...I had one of two choices...get in and fly away from danger or to stay and face danger...well, to tell you the truth, both were just as dangerous...there were many fiights where we actually thought that we were about to crash...we hung on to the netting for dear life...thank God for our Marine Pilot who made the corrections and flew us away from hostile fire...
Always Faithful,
Charlie Two Charlie Squad Leader 1970 Nam
Such are the fortunes of war.
i f obama was an american he would be more concerned with the marines dying than his muslim brothers
chuck-blahblahblah;
You are a diehard war monger and a right wing extremist - everything bad happens is Obama's fault because he and his family doen't look like yours and your relative's. Why can't you get thru your thick head that Obama is not a Muslim? Muslims don't attend Catholic Church. You would be much better served by staying on the subject- the dead marines...
It would be enough for you to mourn your marine brothers rather than pocking fun at Obama and Muslims, who has nothing to do with this tragedy. You are an illeterate, ignorant moron and you would remain so untill you die.
Get some education jerk!
My husband was a Vietnam, (army) veteran, and believed that respect among soldiers, (regardless of the branch of service), was what sustained them. He believed they were all there for the same purpose and that each branch had its own job and served its purpose very well and commanded the same respect. And training exercises are a necessary function, which is why the United States Military is the best in the world. It is respect and discipline that makes them function well. Whether this was human error or mechanical failure makes it no less sad, nor does it nullify the fact that these young people were in training to proudly defend their country. God rest their souls and may they rest in peace, knowing they did their best, and that we are proud of them. J.J. or Big J. or whatever you call yourself, narcissists are a danger in combat. The bottom line is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Special Forces. All are there for our protection and we owe them all a debt of gratitude. To the families of these young people, God bless you all. May the Lord help ease your pain.
Its sad to think what their families are going through right now and for a long time to come... will anyone lower the flag for these Marines??
This is a sad tragedy. All that it takes is for the rotors to touch in flight. However, there have been way too many training accidents recently. Something is not right.
Lighten up people. Training accidents happen every day in the Corps....and other services. I am willing to bet a green can of Ham and Mothers the pilots had on NVG's (night vision goggles for the silly-vilians). Your depth perception is way off with these goggles on. I have had too many friends get killed and injured badly in training accidents......but we have to do it to keep prepared for the real sh*t.
Semper Fidelis, my brothers.
SSgt/USMC 72-90
I suspect that you are right. I can't imagine wearing those while flying.
Lot of jerk off comments in here already.
R.I.P. and bless the Marines, thank you all who stand on that wall for us 24/7 so we can have the freedom to post retarded comments on message boards. Me included.
HOORAY!!!
Semper Fi Your job is done rest in peace.
My thoughts are with the families.
BigJJstudd is an attention whore. Look how much I can piss everyone off!
The success of the Bin Laden hit was a result of intense training. Sad that it occasionally means accidents that kill our brave troops.
Yeah, and it was NAVY SEALS NOT GRUNTS that did the job...there's NO COMPARISON.
"Russian"Asskisser-
A service member is a service member. Show some respect for the men and women willing to die to let you post such ignorant crap. Doesn't matter if they were SEALs or infantrymen, they still served their country by doing their job.
I hope their families make it through this tragic time in their lives... will they lower the flags for these Marines??