Searches were taking place on Wednesday February 7 to find five American soldiers in a helicopter which never arrived the day before at its destination in California, the American army said.
The five Marines left Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, for Miramar Air Force Base in southern California on Tuesday aboard a helicopter when
"the aircraft was reported late
, "
-he writes in a press release.
The helicopter in question is a CH-53E Super Stallion model.
The Marine Corps
is "coordinating search and rescue operations with the San Diego County Sheriff's Team and the Civil Air Patrol
," the statement added.
Series of accidents
The fate of the machine is not yet known, but a series of accidents involving American military aircraft occurred last year, including the crash of an Osprey plane off the coast of Japan at the end of November, which led to the death of eight people.
Other tragedies: five American soldiers lost their lives the same month when their helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean during training, and an Osprey aircraft crashed in August in Australia, costing the lives of three Marines.