Global Courant 2023-04-29 09:10:13
The suspension of non-critical air operations is effective immediately as pilots must undergo training, the military says.
The U.S. Army Chief of Staff has grounded all pilots not involved in critical missions until they complete required training after four helicopters crashed in a matter of weeks with multiple deaths.
The suspension of air operations went into effect immediately Friday and the units had to be grounded until they completed training, said Lieutenant Colonel Terence Kelley, a spokesman for the US military. For active duty units, training will take place between May 1 and May 5. Army National Guard and Reserve units have until May 31 to complete training.
Two AH-64 Apache helicopters collided in Alaska on Thursday, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth, while two Black Hawks crashed in Kentucky late last month, killing nine.
There is still no public knowledge of the crash in the state’s remote interior, 402 km (250 mi) from Anchorage.
The army said two of the soldiers died at the scene of the crash and a third on the way to a hospital in Fairbanks. A fourth soldier was wounded and taken to hospital. That soldier was in stable condition Friday, said John Pennell, a spokesman for the US Army Alaska.
US General James McConville “ordered an aviation withdrawal following two fatal helicopter accidents that killed 12 soldiers. The move will ground all Army airmen, except those participating in critical missions, until they complete required training,” the Army said in a statement Friday.
“At the time of retirement, the Army will review the risk approval/risk management process, aviation maintenance training program, standardization and management of aircrew training, and oversight responsibility,” the statement said.
There have been multiple other crashes of US military aircraft in recent years, including one involving a Black Hawk that killed two Tennessee National Guardsmen during a training flight in Alabama in February.
Four US Marines were killed last year during NATO exercises in Norway when their V-22B Osprey plane crashed, possibly after hitting a mountain, researchers said.
And two U.S. Navy pilots were rescued after their T-45C Goshawk jet crashed during a training exercise in a residential area near Fort Worth, Texas in 2021. The pilots ejected before the plane crashed.
