An aircraft believed to be carrying nuclear material has crashed, and the five people on board are presumed to be dead.
The military airplane reportedly fell on Wednesday in Imperial County, California, near Route 78 and the town of Glamis, which is 150 miles east of San Diego and 30 miles north of the US border with Mexico.
The crash has been confirmed by Naval Air Facility El Centro, which is located about 30 miles from the accident site.
‘We can confirm that an aircraft belonging to 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed near Glamis, CA,’ the naval air facility stated on its Facebook page.
It was not immediately known what caused the crash and what type of nuclear material the plane was carrying.
An aerial reporter in San Diego, Malik Earnest, tweeted: ‘A military aircraft crashed in the Imperial County area of California, according to local reports.
‘Preliminary reports indicate the aircraft was loaded with nuclear material with at least 5 people aboard. Rescue efforts and an investigation are underway.’
Four people were presumed to be dead as rescue teams looked for a fifth passenger also believed to be deceased.
‘Radio chatter’ suggested that the aircraft was a V-22 Osprey, according to the .
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma has a fleet of Ospreys, and was heading to the site after the crash. The station posted on Tuesday that it was engaging in exercises in May.
‘An MV-22B Osprey with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) transports ordnance during an Expeditionary Advanced Base Operation (EABO) exercise to Old Highway 101 near Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, May 25, 2022,’ stated the post.
‘This exercise will continue to assess the overall US Marine Corps’ EABOs to improve requirements and sustain lessons learned for future deployments to support the air combat element and objectives of Force Design 2030.’
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