Marine Corps leaders, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden expressed their condolences. The five Marines were assigned to Miramar’s Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Miramar. The Marine Corps ruled out pilot error for the accident. In 2005, a Super Stallion went down in a sandstorm in Iraq, killing 31 people on board. Nicknamed the “hurricane maker” because of the downwash from its three engines, the Super Stallion has a range of about 640 miles (1,029 kilometers).
