1 dead, 8 injured in training accident (Updated)

An Army helicopter crashed into a Navy ship off of Virginia’s coast early this morning killing one service member and sending eight others to the hospital. I guess it’s a tough reminder that training for war is just as difficult as the actual war.

According to news reports, all of the survivors are stable, whatever that means.

UPDATE at 1400Z23102009: More on the accident from the Associated Press;

Service members were rappelling down a rope from the helicopter to the USNS Arctic around 8 p.m. Thursday off the Virginia coast near Fort Story when the crash happened, Navy spokeswoman Lt. J. G. Megan Issac said.

The helicopter crashed into the ship’s stern and ended up on its side, Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander of the Military Sealift Command, said at a news conference Friday morning at Naval Station Norfolk. A small fire on the ship’s deck was quickly extinguished.

“It was a routine visit, board, search and seizure exercise that takes place between Army and Navy units on a fairly regular basis,‘’ Buzby said, adding that ships like the Arctic are used because they are similar to merchant ships.

The exercise trains the service members on how to quickly board a ship that might be threatened by pirates or terrorists, for instance, Buzby said.

The Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk, and the damaged helicopter remained aboard the ship.

The names of the casualties haven’t been released yet.

Category: Breaking News, Military issues, Support the troops