Community Corner

Marines Killed in Helicopter Crash Identified; Training Halted

Capt. Jeffrey Bland, 37, and 1st Lt. Thomas Heitmann, 27, were killed after the AH-1W Super Cobra they were piloting crashed at Camp Pendleton on Monday.

Two United States Marine Corps pilots killed in a were identified Tuesday.

Capt. Jeffrey Bland, 37, and 1st Lt. Thomas Heitmann, 27, were piloting an AH-1W Super Cobra that went down for unknown reasons about 1 p.m. Monday in a training area in the southeast corner of the base near Fallbrook, according to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing's public affairs office.

Bland and Heitmann were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders, officials said. Both men were assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

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Bland, of Champaign, Ill., joined the Marine Corps in June 1997. Heitmann, of Mendota, Ill., joined the Marines in May 2008.

Bland received numerous military decorations, including a Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, two Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medals and three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

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Heitmann received a National Defense Service Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Lt Col. Robert Morgan, commanding officer of the training squadron on which Bland and Heitmann served, asked the public to "pray for the families of the warriors that we have lost."

The incident ignited a brush fire that burned 120 acres that sent thick smoke into the Murrieta-Temecula Valley. The fire caused no reported structural damage or injuries, and was 80 percent contained Tuesday morning, according to officials.

The crash was under investigation. No details about what may have caused the crash have been released.

Nearly all training flights for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were been canceled until Thursday, Marine Corps Times reported.

“All of our training flights are going to be grounded,” 1st Lt. Maureen Dooley, a wing spokeswoman at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, said Tuesday.

The pause allows commanders “to conduct any safety stand-downs [and] conduct any routine maintenance on aircraft,” Dooley told the newspaper.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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