6 Die in Mojave Crash of Rescue Copter

RIVERSIDE —  A California Air National Guard search and rescue helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the Mojave Desert near Barstow on Thursday killing all six people on board, authorities said.

The twin-engine HH-3 Jolly Green Giant Helicopter was on a routine training mission when it crashed at 10:55 a.m. on a lava flow in the Newberry Mountains about 10 miles southeast of Barstow, said Carolyn Hamilton, spokeswoman for the Air National Guard.

Hamilton said the helicopter, which has a capacity of 25 passengers and 5,000 pounds of equipment, was attached to the California Air National Guard 129th Air Rescue and Recovery Group headquartered at Moffett Naval Air Station in Mountain View. It was on a training mission with personnel from George Air Force Base when the crash occurred.

“There were six fatalities,” Hamilton said. “Four were air national guardsmen, and two were (Air Force personnel) from George Air Force Base.” Names of the victims were withheld pending notification of relatives, Hamilton said.

California Highway Patrol officers in Barstow assisted military personnel in the discovery of the wreckage and reported that “it looked like the helicopter hit the top of a mountain and careened into a valley below,” said CHP Lt. Gary Haley.