Dust Bulletin Board |
Military copter crashes common in winter By ROBERT BURNS WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of fatal U.S. military helicopter crashes in Iraq has spiked in recent weeks, fitting a wartime pattern of more frequent accidental and combat crashes during winter months. MORE Chinook crashes in Afghanistan: 18 dead KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. military CH-47D Chinook helicopter smashed into a flat desert in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, 6 April 2005, killing the four American crew and at least 14 others, officials said. It was the deadliest military crash here since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom. MORE Dust storm caused 0 visibility With the air filled with blowing sand, police officers and tow truck operators work to sort out the chaos. Blowing sand reduced visibility to near zero. MORE The Corps Helped Control Helicopter-Generated Dust during the Vietnam War? More than twelve thousand helicopters served the U.S. during the Vietnam War. During the early days of the war it was commonly and fallaciously believed that helicopter use would require comparatively little maintenance. MORE Dust blamed in chopper crash By William Cole An investigation into the CH-47D helicopter crash on April 6 in Afghanistan that killed two Schofield Barracks soldiers and 16 others found that the aircraft ran into a severe dust storm with winds topping 45 knots and the pilots became "spatially disoriented." MORE Why Do U.S. Military Helicopters Keep Crashing? In the beginning weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as during the war on terrorism, military helicopter crashes and "hard landings" were a common occurrence. A number of BuzzFlash readers wrote in to comment on this, with many questioning why U.S. helicopters seemed to pose more of a threat than the enemy. MORE A terrifying scene, then a big crash By Mark Bowden ABDIAZIZ ALI ADEN heard the American helicopters coming in low, so low that the big tree that stood in the central courtyard of his stone house was uprooted and knocked over. Aden was 18 but looked five years younger, a slip of a man with thick, bushy hair. MORE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS MAG-16 (REIN) DESERT LANDING POLICY AND MITIGATION STRATEGY From: Commanding Officer, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (REIN) To: All Rotary Wing Squadrons, Marine Aircraft Group 16 REIN Subject: MAG-16 (REIN) DESERT LANDING POLICY and MITIGATION STRATEGY 1. Proficiency in the core skill of desert landings is essential for assault support aircrew operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MORE |