( CNN ) -- The U.S. Marine Corps on Friday identified the seven killed in a midair collision of two of its helicopters this week along the Arizona-California border . The Marines , who were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan , were killed Wednesday in a collision between an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter and a UH-1Y Huey utility helicopter . The Marines were identified as : . _Maj . Thomas A. Budrejko , 37 , of Montville , Connecticut . He was commissioned as an officer by the Marine Corps on May 24 , 1996 , and served as an AH-1W Cobra pilot and executive officer of attack squadron 469 . _Capt . Michael M. Quin , 28 , of Purcellville , Virginia . He was commissioned as an officer by on May 26 , 2006 , and served as a UH-1Y Huey pilot . _Capt . Benjamin N. Cerniglia , 31 , of Montgomery , Alabama . He was commissioned as an officer on December 14 , 2007 , and served as an AH-1W Cobra pilot . _Sgt . Justin A. Everett , 33 , of Clovis , California . He enlisted in the Marine Corps on February 19 , 2002 , and served as a helicopter crew chief aboard a UH-1Y Huey . _Lance Cpl . Corey A . Little , 25 , of Marietta , Georgia . He enlisted on March 30 , 2009 , and served as a helicopter crew chief aboard a UH-1Y Huey . _Lance Cpl . Nickoulas H. Elliott , 21 , of Spokane , Washington . He on May 4 , 2009 , and served as a helicopter crew chief aboard a UH-1Y Huey . _Capt . Nathan W. Anderson , 32 , of Amarillo , Texas . He was commissioned as an officer on December 20 , 2002 , and served as a UH-1Y Huey pilot . Anderson was assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma , Arizona , while the other six were assigned to the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 , Marine Aircraft Group 39 , 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Camp Pendleton , California , the Marine Corps said in a statement . `` Every single one of these Marines impacted our squadron in their own special way and the entire Marine Corps aviation community is feeling their tragic loss , '' said Lt. Col. Stephen Lightfoot , commanding officer of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 . The cause of the collision , which occurred during routine training operations , remains under investigation , the Marines said . The crash occurred Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m . ET in the Chocolate Mountains on the California side of the range , near Yuma , according to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Base Commander Col. Robert Kuckuk . While weather did not appear to play a factor , visibility may have been severely limited by nightfall and a significant amount of dust , referred to as a `` brown out , '' created by the helicopters landing and taking off , Gunnery Sgt . Dustin Dunk , a spokesperson for Air Station Yuma , has previously said . The cause of the crash remains under investigation , said 1st Lt. Maureen Dooley , a Marine Corps spokeswoman , said . The military has long used the AH-1W and UH-1 Huey for a variety of tasks . The military describes the AH-1W as `` the backbone of the United States Marine Corps ' attack helicopter fleet . '' The UH-1Y is a twin-engine , medium-size helicopter . CNN 's Tina Burnside contributed to this report .
Six of the Marine killed belonged to a Camp Pendleton -based squadron , the Corps says . Six Marines was assigned to a Yuma -based Marines , the Corps says . The cause of the accident remains under investigation , Marines says . The Marines were preparing to deploy to Camp Pendleton , the Corps says .