The 20th anniversary memorial service to honor 19 Marines who died in an aircraft crash in Marana in 2000 will be Saturday, April 11.
Because of social distancing requirements the service will be comprised of a five-plane flyover at 10 a.m. over the Marana Regional Airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Road.
The public is invited but attendees must stay in their vehicles in the parking lot at the airport during the flyover.
There will be brief remarks and the reading of the names of the 19 Marines who died in the crash April 8, 2000, during a training mission of the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
The five-plane “missing man” formation will be conducted by the Arizona Scorpions Formation Flying Team.
It will arrive from the northwest flying over Avra Valley Road toward the memorial site.
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The “missing man” airplane will depart the formation over the memorial site and fly to the west, according to a news release from the Nighthawk 72 Marana Detachment #1344 Marine Corps League, which is holding the ceremony. The Osprey with 19 Marines on board crashed during a night training exercise at the airport.
The aircraft involved was from Maryland but assigned temporarily to the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma.
The Osprey has tilt rotors that allow it to land and take off like a helicopter then fly like an airplane.
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