"Military aircraft carrying nuclear material" crashes in California

'Five people presumed dead after military aircraft carrying nuclear material' crashes in California
The crash happened near Glamis, 30 miles north of the Mexican border and 150 miles east of San Diego
Five people were on board and all are presumed dead, according to FOX 5 reporter Malik Earnest
It is unclear what type of aircraft it was, and from which base it was operating
By NATASHA ANDERSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:50 EDT, 8 June 2022 | UPDATED: 17:26 EDT, 8 June 2022

A military aircraft carrying nuclear material has crashed in California, leaving officials to believe all five passengers are dead.

The plane crashed in Imperial County near Highway 78 and the town of Glamis - 30 miles north of the Mexican border, and 150 miles east of San Diego.

The crash was confirmed by Naval Air Facility El Centro, 30 miles from the crash site.

Officials believe at least five people were aboard at the time of the crash.

Investigators have presumed all passengers are dead, according to FOX 5 reporter Malik Earnest.




U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform at Naval Air Facility El Centro on March 13, 2021. The base is only around 30 miles from the site of the crash


Glamis is famed for the Algodones Dunes, 30 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. This is where the crash occurred





It is unknown what caused the crash or what type of nuclear material was onboard.

Military officials are currently at the scene of the crash and an investigation is underway.

No deaths from 2nd military aircraft crash in 2 days
JULIE WATSON and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Thu, June 9, 2022, 9:04 AM

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Navy helicopter crashed Thursday and everyone on board survived near the California desert site where a day earlier a Marine Osprey went down, killing all five people aboard, authorities said.

Four people were aboard the Navy chopper, which went down around 6 p.m. on a training range while conducting a routine training flight from Naval Air Facility El Centro, according to the base. The helicopter is an MH-60S Seahawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3 based at Naval Air Station North Island.

One crew member received an injury that was not life-threatening and was taken to a hospital, the base said.

The crash site was originally described as being about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Yuma, Arizona.

A day earlier, all five Marines on board a tiltrotor aircraft were killed when it crashed in the California desert near the Arizona border, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

The MV-22 Osprey went down at 12:25 p.m. Wednesday during training in a remote area in Imperial County near the community of Glamis, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) east of San Diego and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Yuma, Arizona.

The aircraft was based at Camp Pendleton with Marine Aircraft Group 39 and was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

“We mourn the loss of our Marines in this tragic mishap,” Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to their families and friends as they cope with this tragedy.”

The statement said as a matter of policy, the Marine Corps would be contacting family members before identifying those who were killed. Efforts to recover equipment were underway and an investigation into the cause of the crash has started. No additional details were provided in the Marine Corps statement.

The Marines were participating in a routine live-fire training over their gunnery range in the Imperial Valley desert, said Marine Maj. Mason Englehart, spokesperson for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The Osprey, a hybrid airplane and helicopter, flew in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but has been criticized by some as unsafe. It is designed to take off like a helicopter, rotate its propellers to a horizontal position and cruise like an airplane.

Versions of the aircraft are flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.

Prior to Wednesday's crash, Osprey crashes had caused 46 deaths, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Most recently, four Marines were killed when a Marine Corps Osprey crashed on March 18 near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle while participating in a NATO exercise. In 2017, three Marines were killed when their MV-22 Osprey crashed off Queensland, Australia. In 2015, one Marine was killed and 21 were injured when their MV-22 Osprey caught fire during a “hard landing” in Hawaii.

The Osprey is a joint project of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing.

Its development was marked by deadly crashes, including an April 2000 accident in Arizona that killed 19 Marines.

Another Military Aircraft Crashes in Southern California, the Third in a Week
Konstantin Toropin
Fri, June 10, 2022, 10:44 AM

Another military aircraft has crashed in the desert around El Centro, California -- the third in the region in seven days. It comes less than 48 hours after an MV-22B Osprey crash killed five Marines in the same area.

On Thursday, a Navy MH-60S Seahawk was conducting a routine training flight from Naval Air Facility El Centro when it crashed at around 6 p.m. local time, the service said in a press release. A social media post from the facility said the crash was located about 35 miles north of Yuma, Arizona.

In an update released in the early hours of Friday, the Navy said that all four of the aircrew on board the helicopter survived, though one sailor suffered "non-life threatening injuries" and had to be taken to a nearby hospital.

The Seahawk was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3, based at Naval Air Station North Island, California.

Although this incident appears to have ended without serious injury, the crash caps off a deadly week in southern California for the sea service.

Last Friday, Navy pilot Lt. Richard Bullock was killed when his F/A-18 Super Hornet crashed near Trona, California, about 250 miles from Naval Air Station Lemoore and 400 miles north of El Centro.

That same day, 29-year-old Electronics Technician 2nd Class John Deltoro was killed in a car crash while returning from training at Camp Billy Machen in Niland -- a town just north of El Centro. Deltoro and four other sailors were driving around 10 p.m. June 3 when their car went off the road and hit a large boulder. The four other sailors in the car were all hospitalized. All five were part of a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit, according to the Navy.

Then, on Wednesday, an MV-22B Osprey crashed in Glamis, California -- a small town between El Centro and Yuma -- killing all five Marines aboard. According to the Corps, the aircraft was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Although the series of incidents paints a grim picture, it is important to note that, given the information available, nothing seems to connect all of the mishaps.

The three aircraft crashes involved three different platforms, and the aircraft themselves were based out of three different bases. Meanwhile, the California Highway Patrol has said that it is looking into whether seat belts were used in the deadly car crash, noting in a press release that Deltoro was the middle rear passenger.

The Marine Corps said that, as of Friday, it was still within the 24-hour period to notify the next of kin of the Marines who perished in Wednesday's crash, ahead of publicly identifying the victims. In addition, out of privacy concerns, the Navy typically does not release the names of mishap victims who were not killed.