Heavy Snowfall Hinders Marine Helicopter Recovery

A Marine Corps helicopter that went down in the mountains near San Diego on Tuesday evening has yet to be recovered due to the relentless rain and snow that continue to pound Southern California.

The Marines left from Creech Air Force Base north of Las Vegas on Tuesday and lost contact around 11:30 p.m. on their way to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California. Five Marines were aboard the CH-53E Super Stallion, which is the largest helicopter in the military designed for rough weather flying. 

The helicopter was located Wednesday morning by civilian authorities searching by air near Pine Valley, a mountain community east of San Diego in the Cuyamaca Mountains.

As Wednesday morning broke, a winter storm warning was issued for mountains outside San Diego with more than 10 to 14 inches of snow possible by Thursday according to local news accounts.  

Back-to-back atmospheric rivers have dropped several feet of water in places of California, causing at least 520 mudslides in Los Angeles alone.

Cal Fire posted on X, "@CALFIRESANDIEGO firefighters are assisting with search efforts for a military helicopter reported missing in the area north of Interstate 8 & Kitchen Creek Road, located southeast of Pine Valley. Multiple agencies are searching the area covered in snow making it hard to access."

Cal Fire said it was coordinating with the military, the U.S. Forest Service, Border Patrol, the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and the state Civil Air Patrol.
 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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