A CH-53E Super Stallion, assigned to the Wolfpacks of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted an emergency landing at Camp Pendleton, San Diego.
On Dec. 20, 2024 at 16:11 PST, a USMC CH-53 (Marine Corps) conducted an emergency landing procedure in the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton, San Diego.
The wreckage of the aircraft was seen burning from the I-5 highway to the north of the Aliso Creek Rest Area. Although burning, the fuselage seems mostly intact.
Breaking #Aircraft #Crash #Oceanside California https://t.co/TTAJtUsLlY pic.twitter.com/21ZzqiXKOD
— Dave Toussaint (@engineco16) December 21, 2024
A Marine official has said that the aircraft caught fire during a training mission, which forced the Super Stallion’s crew to conduct an emergency landing. The USMC has categorized the incident as a “mishap” and emergency landing, but not a crash.
See attached for update on an emergency landing of a USMC CH-53E near I-5. pic.twitter.com/8idcZ78t98
— 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (@3rdmaw) December 21, 2024
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Reports also say that all four crew members on the CH-53E were able to evacuate to safety, but were unable to put out the fire.
The emergency has caused a traffic jam on the highway as motorists slow down to have a closer look at the mishap.
‼️ Traffic Alert ‼️ A military helicopter has made an emergency landing on Camp Pendleton which is visible from I-5 north of the Aliso Creek Rest Area. Please use caution and expect delays in the area. #TrafficAlert #CHP #CommuteTraffic #accident @CHP_HQ pic.twitter.com/749NrxlVbM
— CHP Oceanside Area (@CHP_Oceanside) December 21, 2024
We can identify the aircraft as a CH-53 from the wreckage because of the large rotor blades visible in the wreckage, and the presence of a refuelling probe at the front of the fuselage indicates that it is an E model.
The moment of impact was recorded on the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange, which identified it as BuNo. 162518 from HMH-466 out of MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Miramar. The CH-53E was flying under the callsign WLFPK11 at the time of the incident, after the name of the squadron, Wolfpacks.
HMH-466 flies the ageing CH-53E, which is currently in the process of being replaced by the newer, more capable CH-53K variant. Notably, a USMC CH-53E also crashed near San Diego on late Feb. 6, 2024, killing all five of its crew members.
Many thanks to Kai Martin, @nitrosr71.avphoto on instagram, for his help with collecting sources and timestamps.
