4 Marines feared dead in helicopter crash
Mick sends us a link to Fox News that reports a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego crashed near the Mexican border with California and that 4 Marines are feared dead as a result;
The Marine Corps was withholding the identities of those killed for 24 hours until next of kin notifications are complete.
“The status of all four is presumed dead pending positive identification,” read a statement from the aviation unit.
The head of Marine Corps aviation told Congress in November his CH-53 fleet was ‘inadequate,’ noting he only had 143 out of 200 required helicopters on the flight line and of those only 37 percent could fly.
Category: Marine Corps
Fair Winds and Following Seas Marines; hopefully the root cause will be found quickly, and maybe somehow your sacrifice will save others.
These kinds of incidents are some of the hardest for me. Maintainers try really hard to give their aircrews fully mission capable safe aircraft; and take great pride in sortie completion rates.
When budget cuts hit Navy and Marine Corps squadrons, it comes in the form of part shortages. These part shortages mean cannibalization starts. I hated robbing parts, and creating a hangar queen…from which even more parts would be robbed. It is a horrible way to keep birds in the air, but a necessary evil.
I feel for every single person in that squadron right now.
Amen.
Atkron:
I, too, always hated it when we were forced to start canning parts in order to keep the squadron flying.
Sometimes we’d ultimately end up digging ourselves into such a deep awaiting parts/awaiting maintenance ‘hole’ that it was very difficult to get back out of it.
The Army used to have a pretty nifty little acronym that I would post to the vehicle/weapons systems deadline reports that created hangar queens.
It was CCS – Command Controlled Substitution.
RIP Marines.
“…it comes in the form of part shortages.” Also personnel losses, which means more workload on the remaining maintainers , and overall reduced aircraft availability for aircrew proficiency. It’s a viscous cycle, and borderline criminal.
May the souls of the crew rest in peace and their families find solace in the arms of their family and friends.
The Marine Corps also lost an AV-8B Harrier yesterday in Djibouti. The pilot was able to eject and survived. The aircraft was assigned to VMM-162 and embarked aboard USS IWO JIMA (LHD-7).
Not a good day yesterday for Marine Aviation. Once again we see that training for war can often be as dangerous as the real thing.
Semper Fidelis.
‘US Marine Corps jet crashes in Djibouti; pilot ejected and in ‘stable’ condition, officials say’
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/04/03/us-marine-corps-harrier-jet-crashes-in-djibouti-pilot-ejected-but-status-unknown-officials-say.html
One of the guys in my US Navy Roof Rat Facebook Group is now a Naval Reservist, currently in Dijibouti.
He gave us an account of that Harrier crash. Said the pilot ejected close to the deck, and his chute didn’t have time to fully open. Pilot was moving, but couldn’t stand up or walk and was evac’d to Germany.
The fire from the crash was out within 2 minutes. One of the crash and smash guys was burned a little.
Darn. Prayers for the Marine.
Update.
Marine Corps Times
Some good news on a dark day.
“…only 37 percent could fly.”
Another leftover from the previous administration.
God be with the Fallen as well as their Buddies, Friends and Families.
God grant His peace to these Marines and their families.
I’ve been in units that have had folks severely injured in “hard landings” and some killed (incident in Nepal). It is a very hard time for all involved.
Godspeed Marines. Thank you for your service.
Thoughts and prayers with their fellow Marines and especially with the family.
Just another reminder of the cost of freedom.
God rest them well and be with their families.
The only saving grace in the omnibus spending bill the President just signed is a big increase in military spending
Let us hope it is used wisely to increase readiness
Fair Winds and Following Seas. Blessings for you and yours.
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Rest in Peace.
Fox News reported an F-16 crashed outside of Nellis AFB.
Well, damn…I just checked Facebook for the first time in a few weeks and one of the Marines killed was Taylor Conrad, a kid who graduated from the school I spent the most time at as a Recruiter. He graduated a few months after I left and joined the Marines. I hope his family and friends pull through this alright…Central High School (Baton Rouge, LA) students and alumni have had a few tragedies in the past eight years.
RIP, Marines!