Posted on 02/08/2024 9:40:27 AM PST by bitt
Five U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) members aboard a helicopter that went missing on a flight from Nevada to California were confirmed dead Thursday morning.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched for the CH-53E Super Stallion after it was “reported overdue” on Wednesday, as Breitbart News reported.
The heavy-lift cargo helicopter was on a training flight from a Nevada Air Force base to an air station near San Diego.
The crew was flying in an historic storm that dumped snow and rain across California, conditions that also hampered search and rescue efforts.
It was later found in the snow-covered California mountains – about 45 miles from its destination.
“It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I share the loss of five outstanding Marines from 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the ‘Flying Tigers,'” Maj Gen Michael J Borgschulte, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a statement on Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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Prayers up...God rest their souls.....RIP, dear Marines.
WTH was this mission so critical it had to be flown in a “ historic storm” ?
Semper Fi, Marines.
Waiting for Biden to claim that Beau died in a helicopter crash.
Does he military take bad weather into account at all when deciding whether to fly a mission? And I understand that missions may need to be flown regardless of weather in certain situations. Was this one of those situations? Is there fear of being perceived as overly cautious on the military and that that would jeopardize promotions, etc?
What happened to common sense? Why send them out in that weather?
Prayers for their souls and thanks for their sacrifice s for us all.
Agreed, and only a training flight too ... willful incompetence
People in charge will be canned for approving this
You know what they say about “Military Intelligence”.
Could it be no one wanted to stay at Nevada longer and wanted to get home or their food and lodging authorization ran out with no one cutting orders for them to stay.
There’s a myriad of reasons why they flew in a storm. I’m just guessing why they flew.
I had a friend who was a sailing up the East coast of the United States some years ago via the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway with his family, and got caught in a vicious unexpected Nor'easter, and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. But the Coasties went out in a chopper in that crazy weather, because that is what they had to do.
Same with the incident in 1952 that the movie "The Finest Hours" was based on that stars Chris Pine. I knew about this and had read the book, and actually saw the boat they went out in. Nobody would go out in that weather to rescue people in a boat like that. But they did.
We can agree that there are times when this shouldn't even be considered. But our military is well known for being able to do it. Heck, I was on a carrier, and there were times I wondered how on earth they could actually land planes with the big deck moving as it did, but they did. Of course, they also had days where they didn't fly for those reasons.
In this case, I don't know the details. I don't know what that mission was in this case.
“WTH was this mission so critical it had to be flown in a ‘ historic storm’?”
Storms can develop quickly, and can rapidly turn into something that was neither expected nor anticipated. Rotary aircraft do not handle bad weather all that well.
Dammit. Semper fi...
If you followed the news from California you’d know this storm was tracked and predicted to be historic for days.
You rationale does not apply in this case.
I’m so skeptical and cynical about our government. My first thought was one or more of these guys knew something they shouldn’t have known.
I think I read about the coming storm before it hit.
Somebody decided this mission and these men were worth the risk.
The widows parents and children will prob never know.
As I posted above the intensity and unusual nature of this storm was known for days.
I take this personally because I was only 5 yr old when the men came to our door and told my mother my Dad was never coming home. Over 60 years and I remember. And I know what those widows and kids will live with for the rest of their lives.
Hope the trip to Mirimar at night in that storm was a noble cause to die for.
“Why send them out in that weather?”
Because the pinhead who gave the order knows he/she will never be held accountable for it.
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