Military plane, helicopter collide off Southern California coast
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy are searching for as many as nine people off the Southern California coast following a crash involving a Coast Guard plane and a Marine Corps helicopter.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Allyson Conroy says the crash was reported at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, about 50 miles off the San Diego County coast and 15 miles east of San Clemente Island.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says a pilot reported seeing a fireball near where the aircraft collided.
Miramar Marine Corps Air Station spokesman Cpl. Michael Stevens confirmed an AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter had gone down, but he had no further information.
The missing Coast Guard plane and its crew are from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Jetta Disco. Crews from the Sacramento Coast Guard station fly search-and-rescue, law enforcement and logistics missions, Disco said.
"We are always hopeful," Coast Guard representative Thomas Farris told reporters early Friday. "We're working very hard to make sure we cover any possiblity and the assumption is always that they are alive."
Gregor says the Coast Guard informed the FAA that debris from a C-130 had been spotted. Seven people were on board the C-130 and two people were aboard the helicopter.
The Coast Guard said it sent three cutters and diverted an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to the area to search for survivors, while the Navy sent four vessels and multiple helicopters.
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San Clemente Island is the southernmost of the eight Channel Islands located 68 nautical miles west of San Diego.
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