The US Marine Corps is looking for 5 Marines after their Super Stallion helicopter went missing

A US Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion prepares to execute a cargo lift during an exercise in California on Dec. 1, 2022.

US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacob Hutchinson

The US Marine Corps is searching for five Marines whose helicopter went missing on Tuesday.The CH-53E Super Stallion, which was flying from Nevada to California, was reported overdue.No crash site has yet been found.

The US Marine Corps is searching for five Marines after their heavy-lift helicopter went missing while it was traveling from Nevada to California on Tuesday.

The Marines were flying a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from Creech Air Force Base, just north of Las Vegas, to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, near San Diego, but they didn’t arrive when expected.

The aircraft was reported “overdue,” a Marine Corps spokesperson told Business Insider on Wednesday.

The missing Marines are assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is coordinating search and rescue efforts with the Civil Air Patrol and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the spokesperson said.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department was notified after 1 a.m. local time that there was an overdue helicopter, a spokesperson told Business Insider. The aircraft was last seen in the mountainous Pine Valley area, where search and rescue operations are underway.

Due to weather, search operations are only being conducted on the ground and not in the air. The spokesperson said a crash site has not been located yet.

Super Stallions are heavy-lift helicopters that are designed to transport Marines and equipment from land to ships and can be used to facilitate amphibious assaults and other missions.

The Super Stallion has a questionable safety record. Navy Safety Command records indicate that the Super Stallion has had an average mishap rate of 50.43 percent, most being Class C mishaps, for the past 10 years.

The past year has been problematic for helicopter and tiltrotor aircraft. Last year, at least 30 American troops have been killed and dozens more injured in helicopter and tiltrotor crashes.

The status of the missing US Marine Corps Super Stallion helicopter, which was first reported by ABC News, is still unclear.