Four Marines Killed in Helicopter Crash

[JeffL]

Four Marines Killed in Helicopter Crash

FALCON HEIGHTS, Texas - Two military helicopters crashed while helping the Border Patrol in a drug case, killing all four Marines on board.

The crash of the AH1W Super Cobra helicopters happened Wednesday night at Falcon State Park in far South Texas, near the Mexican border.

Each helicopter carried a crew of two and there were no survivors, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Armando Carrasco said in a statement. The four were Marine reservists, said Maj. Jeff Parks.

"The helicopters were conducting a nighttime aviation reconnaissance counterdrug operation in support of the U.S. Border Patrol, Laredo Sector, at the time of the accident," Carrasco said.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Joe Kloppel said he had no immediate information on what might have caused the crash. A collision was certainly a possibility, he said, but that had not been confirmed.

"It was at night, so that probably complicates (getting details from) any eyewitnesses that may have seen it," he said.

The helicopter crews were based in Camp Pendleton, Calif., but were operating out of Fort Bliss, an Army post in far West Texas.

Identities of the dead were withheld pending notification of relatives.