A helicopter crashed Friday killing two marines during a training exercise in Southern California.
The two marines were the only ones on board the Third Marine Aircraft Wing helicopter when it went down at the Twentynine Palms, Calif. military base, The Huffington Post reported. The two marines died from injuries they sustained in the crash.
The Marine Corps is withholding their names for 24 hours until they have notified their relatives.
"Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the two Marines we lost in this tragic accident," Maj. Gen. Michael Rocco said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, this is not the first fatal stateside U.S. military aircraft crash, KOAT in Albuquerque reported. In March 2014, a F/A-18C Hornet's pilot died after his aircraft crashed about 70 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada. In 2012, seven marines died in a midair collision of two U.S. military helicopters at the Arizona-California border. Six of the marines killed were conducting a routine training operation based at California's Camp Pendleton. The seventh marine killed was based in Yuma, Arizona.
In 2011, the Marines Corps had three deadly helicopter crashes in non-combat areas. One occurred in Hawaii, another in Camp Pendleton and a third at the same Southern California base. Both the crashes in California in 2011 involved marines from the Third Marine Aircraft Wing, the same unit as the crash that occurred Friday.
