Officials Identify Marines Killed, Hurt in Twentynine Palms Helicopter Crash
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Officials at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin on Saturday identified the four Marines who were killed and a fifth who was injured in a helicopter crash Friday near Twentynine Palms.
The dead are the pilot, Capt. Michael D. James, 33, of Phoenix; the crew chief, Sgt. Dulles H. Arnett, 25, of Silver Spring, Md.; the first mechanic, Lance Cpl. Michael A. Weaver, 20, of Belle Vernon, Pa., and a passenger, Capt. David R. McHugh, 29, of Ansley, Ala.
The co-pilot, 1st Lt. Andrew D. McClintock, 24, of Alexandria, Va., is in good condition at the Marine branch hospital at Twentynine Palms, said Lt. Tim Hoyle, public affairs officer at the Tustin air station.
The accident, which occurred during training exercises, involved a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the Tustin base. It was the fifth crash in the nation in the past two years of a Super Stallion.
Col. David Shuter, a commander at the base, ordered helicopters there grounded but indicated that the “temporary suspension of operations would be short-term,” Hoyle said.
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