A Marine CH-53E based out of the Miramar air station in California was forced to make an emergency landing Thursday due to an in-flight fire, according to Marine officials.
The heavy-lift Super Stallion landed safely at Imperial County Airport in Imperial, California, a little more than 100 miles due east, with no reported injuries, a command release detailed.
The Imperial County Fire Department extinguished the flames after the aircraft landed, the release said.
The CH-53E assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, was conducting a routine training mission, the release said. The incident is under investigation, Marine officials said.
It’s the second midair fire incident for the Corps in the past two months.
In early May, a Marine F/A-18 Hornet made an emergency landing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, due to an engine bay fire.
No one was injured in the incident. The aircraft and crew of the Hornet were assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
