SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — One person is dead after a helicopter crashed outside a small community near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego County Monday, Cal Fire confirmed.
The crash was reported around 11:20 a.m. in a private field owned by the CBD farm, Sol Valley Ranch, near Round Potrero Road in the census-designated area of Potrero.
The helicopter was a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Airbus aircraft on a border security mission when the aviation mishap occurred. Per the flight tracking website FlightAware, the aircraft appeared to have departed from Brown Field around 9 a.m.
“Tragically, a CBP Air Interdiction Agent – the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft – was pronounced deceased at the scene. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available,” Gerrelaine Alcordo with CBP said in a statement to FOX 5/KUSI.
The identity of the pilot is not yet known.
FAA and National Transportation Safety Board officials have been contacted to initiate an investigation, Cal Fire added.
This is the second time a helicopter has gone down in San Diego County this year. The first, which was back in February, killed five U.S. Marines and prompted a massive foot search through East County during a heavy downpour of rain and snow.
The aircraft in that incident was later identified as a CH-53E Super Stallion flying to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego from a base in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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