Army Aviation Safety Stand Down
A second deadly helo incident killing three has prompted the Army to declare a moratorium on flying. 12 soldiers have perished in two accidents in a month- the first involved two Black Hawk helicopters participating in a night training exercise in Kentucky.
The most recent incident occurred when two Apache helicopters collided as they were returning to Fort Wainwright after, once again, a training flight. One crewmember survived and is being treated at the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Aviation units will stand down until additional training is completed.
“The move grounds all army aviators except those participating in critical missions until they complete the required training,” Army spox said.
US army grounds all aviation units for training after fatal helicopter crashes
Suspension comes after 12 soldiers die within a month in two crashes in Alaska and Kentucky
The US army has grounded aviation units for training after 12 soldiers died in helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky in the last month.
The suspension was effective immediately, with units being grounded until they complete the training, the army spokesperson Lt Col Terence Kelley said.
Training for active-duty units is to take place between 1 and 5 May. National guard and reserve units will have until 31 May to complete theirs.
“The move grounds all army aviators except those participating in critical missions until they complete the required training,” the army said.
Two army helicopters collided near Healy, in Alaska, on Thursday, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth. The aircraft from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, at Fort Wainwright were returning from training at the time of the crash, according to the army. The unit is part of the 11th Airborne Division, which is nicknamed the Arctic Angels.
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“The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand-down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel,” the army’s chief of staff, Gen James McConville said.
Second helo incident in Alaska this year- this is a terrible trend. Fair winds and following seas.
Something is badly broken in Army Aviation, and a PowerPoint presentation from the squadron’s Safety Department won’t fix it. Been on both sides of Navy stand-downs. These tended to be knee-jerk reactions to bad optics and were intended to promulgate the appearance of Doing Something. I’m filled with confidence the Army has a better idea.
Category: Big Army, Blue Skies, Fair Winds and Following Seas, Training Incidents
A few Power Point slides and some Zoom and that should fix everything.
Maybe if more time was spent on REAL Training instead of BS, there might not be so many “Training Accidents”.
Training for war can be as dangerous as war itself.
Used to keep a poster in the squadron. “Remember when training used to be important?” Gunfighter practicing.
Lot of comments out there in the interwebs are sharing your opinion, King… 🤔
They were actully returning to Ft Wainwright from the Donnelly Training Area after doing ariel gunnery.
Following to close to each other or one going off course into the other
So… welcome to the club, flyboys & girls!
From NBCdotCOM:
Can morale go negative?
Kidding, I know the answer!! Infantry leads the way!
No need to bring back the draft. Conscript those already in- done!
When I went aboard the OKIE 3 in 1963, the crew members that participated in the Cuban blockade had their enlistments extended…
Training for war can be as dangerous as war itself.
Dammit. Just one more session of DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity) training could have prevented this awful accident! The military won’t be safe* until it sets rid of white male patriarchal cisgender supremacy! O_o
*safe for the ChiComs and Soyboys
“Something is badly broken in Army Aviation,”
Perhaps, but that sounds a bit premature to me. I would prefer to wait for the results of the accident investigatons.
Those of us that were part of the recovery (my part was really really small) don’t even know what caused it yet. There has been some speculation based soley on what we saw on the radar, but I’m not going to get into that because at this point it’s just theories.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, the greater recovery team, the investigators, friends, family and coworkers of these Soldiers.
The truth, no matter how many black eyes it inflicts, will make the team stronger.
Let us hope that happens.
BUT HEY, at least their SHARP and Extremist Awareness training is up to date, right? Let’s look at what training the Army of today puts first.
Well, with how “woke”-ness is going, actual practical stuff is displaced:
https://twitter.com/DrLoupis/status/1651683795697823754
RIP Chris
If only they had paid more attention to the equity, inclusion and proper pronoun usage, there would have been no accidents. Oh, that and the proper use of unicorns, electric ones to save the earth ya know.