{"id":10312,"date":"2025-10-17T21:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/10312\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T21:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:15:07","slug":"marine-killed-another-injured-in-helicopter-crash-in-southern-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/10312\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine killed, another injured in helicopter crash in Southern California"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tA U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper with Marine Light Helicopter Attack Squadron (HMLA) 369, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, flies over Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Sept. 28, 2025. (Jackson Rush\/U.S. Marine Corps)
\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

One pilot was killed in a late Thursday crash of an AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter in Southern California, the Marine Corps said Friday. A second crew member was injured.<\/p>\n

The helicopter from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 369, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, experienced an \u201caviation mishap\u201d during routine operations near Imperial Gables, Calif., the Marines said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Imperial Gables is a sparsely populated desert community about 135 miles east of San Diego in Imperial County, Calif. It\u2019s 50 miles northwest of Yuma, Ariz., and 45 miles north of Mexicali, Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two pilots were transported to separate hospitals. The first pilot was transported to Pioneers Memorial Hospital, Brawley, Calif., and is confirmed dead. The second pilot was transported to Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, Calif., and is in stable condition. <\/p>\n

Maj. Gen. James B. Wellons, the commanding general of 3rd MAW, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, north of San Diego, issued a statement on the death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with profound sadness that I share the loss of a Marine from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and the \u2018Gunfighters\u2019 while conducting a training flight in support of the Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course,\u201d Wellons said in the statement. \u201cThis Marine made the ultimate sacrifice, and we are forever grateful for his selfless commitment and willingness to go into harm\u2019s way. To the family, friends and loved ones of our fallen Marine, we send our deepest condolences and offer our unwavering support during this time of grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cGunfighters\u201d are based at MCAS Camp Pendleton.<\/p>\n

Identification will be made 24 hours after the next of kin are notified of the accident. The identity of the injured pilot has not yet been disclosed. <\/p>\n

This is the second fatal crash involving a 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing helicopter since the beginning of 2024. <\/p>\n

Three pilots and two crew chiefs were killed Feb. 6, 2024<\/a>, aboard a CH-53E Super Stallion that crashed during a late-night flight near Pine Valley, Calif. <\/p>\n

The helicopter was with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16 of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Miramar. The Super Stallion was returning from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., when the helicopter crashed. An investigation found<\/a> the pilot failed to avoid the mountainous terrain, likely due to poor visibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper with Marine Light Helicopter Attack Squadron (HMLA) 369, Marine Aircraft Group 39,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9811,7,9,8,9813,9815,9812,9809,9808,9810,9814],"class_list":["post-10312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-3rd-marine-aircraft-wing","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-camp-pendleton-helicopter-crash","tag-helicopter-accident-camp-pendleton","tag-marine-corps-ah-1z-viper-helicopter","tag-marine-helicopter-crash-southern-california","tag-marine-killed-helicopter-crash","tag-mcas-camp-pendleton","tag-mcas-pendleton-marines-helicopter-crash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}