SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy were still hoping Friday to find survivors of a collision between a Coast Guard plane carrying seven people and a Marine Corps helicopter carrying two off the Southern California coast.
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, Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Allyson Conroy said.
A pilot reported seeing a fireball near where the aircraft collided, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said, and the Coast Guard informed the FAA that debris from a C-130 had been spotted. The Coast Guard plane that crashed was a C-130.
The Coast Guard crew members had survival gear onboard their aircraft, including exposure suits that could have allowed them to survive in the water for hours, Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said Friday from San Diego.
“We’re hoping to find survivors,” he said. “We’re not ruling that out.”
At least seven Coast Guard and Navy ships and several helicopters continued a search that ran overnight under a bright moon in calm seas.
“We’ve pretty much thrown everything we have at it right now,” Dunphy said.
The Coast Guard plane was based in Sacramento and was on a search-and-rescue mission when the collision occurred, Dunphy said. He did not have details of the mission.
The AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter was on a training mission when it went down, said Cpl. Michael Stevens, a spokesman for the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
The Cobra and its crew are part of Marine Aircraft Group 39, based at Camp Pendleton, and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is headquartered at Miramar, Stevens said.
San Clemente Island is the southernmost of the eight Channel Islands located 68 nautical miles west of San Diego. The Navy has owned and trained at San Clemente Island since 1934, according to the island’s Web site. Naval Air Station, North Island is responsible for the island’s administration.
Earlier this week, it was an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter that collided with a UH-1 helicopter over southern Afghanistan, killing four American troops and wounding two more, a Marine spokesman said.
State and Nation
Military plane, helicopter collide off California
- State and Nation
-
-
Sinkhole shuts down westbound I-20 in Alabama
Westbound traffic is being routed off Interstate 20 in eastern Alabama because of a sinkhole that's formed in the highway in Calhoun County.
-
Embalmer takes speech case to Mass. high court
Troy Schoeller admits he could have chosen his words more carefully when he talked to a reporter about bodies he worked on as an embalmer at a funeral home.
-
Los Angeles school reopens amid sex abuse scandal
The teachers union president assailed the reassignment of teachers as a stunt, about 100 parents and students blasted the move, and some of the new teachers needed a bit of help from their charges.
-
APNewsBreak: Powell had 'incestuous' images
Authorities say the images depicted "incestuous" sex and were disconcerting enough that they prompted a psychologist to recommend that Powell undergo an intensive psychosexual evaluation.
-
NYC sewage plant to offer Valentine's Day tours
It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine's Day.
-
Mississippi bill renames Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America
State Rep. Steve Holland says the measure aims to mock anti-immigrant legislation that he finds mean-spirited and insignificant.
-
AG: Mortgage deal offers relief to Alabama borrowers
The deal also puts a stop to many of the bad behaviors that contributed to the mortgage mess in Alabama and across the U.S.
- States, Feds to announce mortgage settlement
- Unemployment aid applications near a 4-year low
- Remlap woman dies after struck by car after crash
- More State and Nation Headlines
-
Sinkhole shuts down westbound I-20 in Alabama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
