By Steve Neavling
A CBP helicopter crashed Monday morning near Potrero, a remote area in southeastern San Diego County close to the U.S.-Mexico border, killing the pilot, CBP officials confirmed.
The CBP Air and Marine Operations aircraft went down around 10 a.m. during a border security mission, NBC 7 reports. The crash occurred north of State Route 94, about two miles south of Barrett Lake, according to a CBP spokesperson.
The pilot, a CBP Air Interdiction Agent and the sole occupant of the aircraft, was killed in the crash, CBP said.
SkyRanger7 footage captured shortly after the incident showed the wreckage in an open field at Sol Valley Ranch, a hemp farm.
By late Monday afternoon, dozens of Border Patrol agents gathered to line the route of the pilot’s procession.
Robert Katz, a commercial pilot with more than 40 years of experience, told NBC 7 that FlightAware’s flight tracker indicated the helicopter took off from Brown Field, located about 20 miles west of the crash site, around 9 a.m.
The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350 B3, belonged to Granite Coast Mapping, a company registered in Coronado. Little additional information about the company is currently available.
Katz noted that the flight track showed the pilot flying erratically before the crash. However, the track log did not indicate any apparent issues with the helicopter itself. Katz said the helicopter was flying unusually low to the ground in clear viewing conditions.
A CBP spokesperson clarified that Air and Marine Operations is a separate component of the agency.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on X Monday afternoon that it is investigating the crash.
