SAN DIEGO - As many as nine people are believed to be missing after a Coast Guard plane collided with a military helicopter off the Southern California coast.



Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Allyson Conroy says the crash was reported at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, about 15 miles east off San Clemente Island.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says a pilot reported seeing a fireball in the vicinity of the suspected crash site.

Gregor says preliminary information indicated the crash was between a Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra and a Coast Guard C-130 transport plane. There were seven people on board the C-130 and two on the chopper.

Marine Corps spokesman Cpl. Michael Stevens confirmed an AH-1 Cobra had crashed. He had no additional details.

A search and rescue mission is under way.

San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the eight Channel Islands, is 68 miles west of San Diego.