Five Marines Perish In Helicopter Crash, Military Confirms

The US Marines released the identities of the five Marines killed in a February 6 helicopter crash in Southern California, CNN reported.

In a February 9 statement, the Marine Corps confirmed that the crash killed Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, New Hampshire; Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21, of Olathe, Kansas, Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Arizona, Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho, and Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, of Traverse City, Michigan.

The five men, assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, were killed after their CH-53E helicopter crashed while flying from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to Miramar.

Maj. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, the commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a statement on February 7 that the five Marines had been conducting a training flight when the mishap occurred and efforts were underway to recover their remains.

The families of the deceased had all been notified in person by the morning of February 8.

The helicopter was found on February 7 in the mountainous area of Pine Valley about 30 miles east of Miramar following a multi-agency search hampered by heavy snowfall.

According to KNXV in Arizona, Sgt. Alec Langen had been the crew chief on the training flight.

Langen’s mother Caren told KNXV that Being a Marine meant everything to her son. Her husband Steven, a Marine Corps veteran, told KNXV that he had flown a CH-53E helicopter as well.

Alec had just gotten married in January.

Lt. Col. Nicholas Harvey, the commanding officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 to which the five men had been assigned, said in the February 9 statement that the squadron’s top priority was to “support the families of our fallen heroes.”

The crash is currently under investigation.