Posted on 10/29/2009 10:22:08 PM PDT by VRWCTexan
BreakingNews San Diego media: 9 missing after collision of Coast Guard C-130 and Marine Cobra helicopter off the SD coast. BNO News working to confirm.
Right now here it is 60 and clear
Exactly the same for Pacific Beach.
My daughter was stationed at North Island. What a gorgeous place.
I am a few miles from the Harbor and Bay downtown.
Not long back they re did the gate entrances at NI
very nice. The main one named for Adm. Stockdale.
the former nam POW who died here a few yrs. ago.
very sad. Prayers up and prayers up for the family members. What a sad, sad report.
Right. Remember you told me where you live in FR mail? You and my grandma were born in the same hospital!
We were there when one of the carriers came back from the Gulf and left off the crews before heading up north. It is amazing to watch. Another time we were there when a carrier was leaving North Island.
Some of those civilian houses not to mention the large hotel are amazing there.
Helo’s don't necessarily fly same path and even have different pad area of the field to land.
This was over open water and I am just trying to imagine how with all the gear both craft have they would be in each others path and why since they different missions they would even be so close to each other.
On the Bay side of NI is based the carriers Reagan, Nimitz and in a few months will also be home ported here the carrier Carl Venson. All Nukes
The Lincoln and Stennis are based in Wash. and much of their air wings are based here so they are down here often.
S.D. also has home ported many Amph Assult ships which look like carriers but little smaller. They carry 2,000 Marines
and dozens of choppers and harriers jets.
I wonder if the C-130 was actually a KC-130 variant doing air refueling with the helo? I don’t know if that helo has air refueling capability. I didn’t see a probe on the picture above.
Coast Guard C-130
AH-1 Cobra
The helicopter was an AH-1 Cobra, similar to the AH-1W Super Cobra, the helicopter that crashed near Alpine in May taking the lives of two Marine Corps pilots.
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Coast-Guard-c130-Marine-Cobra-helicopter-collide/lF0CO2r6102_ENGYVZcrwA.cspx
Vendome,
I’ve been sitting here pondering many of the same questions you raised and trying to imagine pilot error of such magnitude and I cannot, so I am trying to get my head around equipment failure, but that still doesn’t address how the two aircraft entered one another’s airspace.
So very sad.
My daughter had friends that came in on the Lincoln — she was with the S3’s at North Island. In fact, she was there when Bush flew out to the carrier.
Aroun 1 1/2 mile from my apt. I can look out to where the carrier Reagan, Nimitz, etc are homeported alongside North Island.
hey were ret. earlier this yr.
They should have been retired a long time ago.
I just read the C-130 was out of Sacramento.
“REGION: Marine Corps helicopter, Coast Guard transport plane collide”
SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND —— A Coast Guard transport plane with seven people on board and a Camp Pendleton helicopter carrying two people collided Thursday evening, prompting an intense ocean search and rescue operation.
The Navy contacted the Coast Guard shortly after 7 p.m. to report the mid-air collision about 15 miles east of San Clemente Island, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Henry Dunphy.
Authorities believe a Coast Guard C-130 transport plane hit a Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. He cautioned that the report was preliminary, although Marine Corps officials confirmed an AH-1 Cobra was involved.
Search and rescue crews were looking for nine people, Gregor said.
As of 10:30 p.m. no survivors had been located and debris had been found in the water at the crash site, Navy officials said.
A pilot reported seeing a fireball near the suspected crash site, Gregor said.
The Navy contacted the Coast Guard to request assistance in its search about 7:10 p.m., Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said.
The Coast Guard sent three cutters and a Jayhawk H-60 helicopter to assist in the search for the downed aircraft, Dunphy said. The Navy sent four vessels and multiple helicopters.
Dunphy said the night was clear, with calm surf and water temperatures of about 65 degrees.
An AH-1 Cobra is a small attack helicopter that carries two people, and flies combat operations in a squadron, said Miramar Marine Corps Air Station spokesman Maj. Jay Delarosa. He said he craft, stationed at Camp Pendleton, was conducting a training exercise at the time of the crash.
The Coast Guard released no details about what its plane was doing, though its aircraft routinely operate in the area.
San Clement Island is 55 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego County. The island is owned by the U.S. Navy and used for military training.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_8831b35b-28eb-59fd-a728-b90bd1e9465a.html
I'm fortunate to not only work on NASNI but have an apartment on Coronado (an apartment surrounded by multi-million dollar homes).
Coronado is a beautiful place (and surprisingly conservative by southern California standards. No one but retired admirals and captains it seems). Peaceful, prosperous, virtually absent of violent crime. I love Coronado. Sadly, my family and I will soon need a bigger place to live and that's going to require moving off the island.
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