U.S. Marine Corps Releases Statement About Plane That Crashed In Southern California | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ryan Saavedra.

    Update: The U.S. Marine Corps released a statement saying that initial reports peddled by local media claiming that the plane was carrying "nuclear material" are false.

    Original Story:

    A U.S. military aircraft believed to be carrying nuclear material reportedly crashed in Southern California Wednesday afternoon, killing presumably everyone who was on board.

    The crash reportedly happened in the Imperial County area and preliminary reports claim that the plane was carrying "nuclear material," according to one local news reporter.

    "Additional radio traffic indicates at least four people are dead as a result of a military aircraft crash in the Imperial County area of California near Highway 78," reporter Malik Earnest tweeted. "Rescue teams are still searching for a 5th person that remains unaccounted."

    "Imperial County officials are assuming all five people aboard a crashed military aircraft near Highway 78 are deceased," he later added. "It's unknown what caused the aircraft to crash at this time. Additional details about nuclear material aboard are not known. The military now has the scene."

    Fox News pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson said that the aircraft that crashed was an MV-22B Osprey that belonged to the 3rd Marine Air Wing.

    "Military and civilian first responders are on site," 1st Lt. Duane Kampa, a Marine spokesperson, said in a statement. "Contrary to initial reports, there was no nuclear material on board the aircraft," Kampa said. "More information will be made available as we receive it."

    The crash comes after four Marines were killed earlier this year in Europe during a training exercise using the same aircraft.

    The U.S. Military states that the MV-22 Osprey's mission for the Marines is "the transportation of troops, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support."

    "The MV-22B Osprey is a tiltrotor V/STOL aircraft designed as the medium-lift replacement for the CH-46E Sea Knight assault support helicopter," the U.S. Military said. "The Osprey can operate as a helicopter or a turboprop aircraft and offers twice the speed, six times the range, and three times the payload of the CH-46E."

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