Blackhawk Helicopter Crashes At Texas A&M

(KBTX)  One person died when an Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed into a field near the Corps of Cadets quad on the campus of Texas A&M University Monday afternoon, injuring four others on board, according to CBS station KBTX in College Station, Texas.

The Army UH-60 Blackhawk had a crew of five on board, including four members of the Army National Guard and one member of the ROTC staff at Texas A&M who is a recent graduate, according to Texas A&M officials. The helicopter was reportedly taking off when it fell abruptly back to the ground.

According to the College Station fire department, three of the four wounded had critical injuries, KBTX reported.

Some of the injured were taken to St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, others to the College Station Medical Center.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are on the scene at Duncan Field where the crash took place.

The Texas Department of Public Safety or the Army will be taking command of the scene, according to CSFD.

KBTX's Blake Mathews reported that at about 1:30 p.m., there were five helicopters on the ground, with three at one point taking off together and flying away. An hour later, around 2:30 p.m., two were still on the ground, with one about to take off.

The helicopter, along with 190 cadets in the university's Corps of Cadets, was participating in the ROTC Winter Field Training Exercises taking place at the university, KBTX reported.

[bobnjersey]

[The correct comparison would be comparing the death rate of those in helicopter crashes to the death rate of those who fall off ladders, or comparing the death rate of all who ride in helicopters to all who climb on ladders. See? Either way, I''''ll bet the helicopter loses.]
[Posted by Evian_Ycnan at 05:23 AM : Jan 13, 2009]

my money is on the ladder ... just magnitudes more of them ... and the users of them not trained in their appropriate use.

[Crimsom72]

Remember, please, there may not have been any students on board, but there were Texas National Guard on board. It was these Texas National Guard who returned, Sept.,2007,from a years deployment in Iraq. I know of someone who was with the KS National Guard who served with Texas National Guard Aviation unit in Iraq, and they all took there job very serious from the maintanence crew to the pilots. So, while there were no students on board, there was an Tx A&M grad along with 3 Texas National Guard. They are just as important as the students.

[evian_ycnan]

I see they deleted my comment about building bonfires.

[toolmangler-2009]

So what is your point? We should outlaw helicopters or ladders?

Posted by docpeter1953 at 01:31 PM : Jan 13, 2009




I made my point, ''you'' just made it again. Fussing about a helicopter crash is pointless without a ''VALID'' reason for doing so.....

[docpeter1953]

More people are killed, falling off ladders than die in Helicopter crashes, But more people fly in Helicopters every year than than those that fall off ladders

Posted by ToolMangler at 08:21 PM : Jan 12, 2009

_______________________

So what is your point? We should outlaw helicopters or ladders?

He11 with that logic, more people die in motorcycle accidents each year than die in helicopter accidents. Should we outlaw motorcycles?

More people drown each year than die in hgelicopter accidents. Are we going to outlaw swimming or drowning?

And I doubt more people die in helicopter accidents each year than falling from ladders. Really need to check emergency room stats for that one.

[kevlar28]

Black Hawk is two words, according to the U.S. Army:
http://www.army.mil/factfiles/equipment/aircraft/blackhawk.html

[kevlar28]

Black Hawk is two words, according to the U.S. Army:
http://www.army.mil/factfiles/equipment/aircraft/blackhawk.html

[onlooker3]

"death-machines" very interesting description. As a UH-60 pilot I obviously have a biased opinion of this helicopter however, ask the countless people that have been rescued via the "death-machine" who are lost in the mountains, in the ocean, post natural disaster the list goes on and on. In a fleet of 10 aircraft flying nearly 2000 hours in the past year without incident speaks well for the aircraft. All of the pilots spend over a year in training just to start flying with the unit Annual evaluations and hundreds of hours of instruction through a career. The maintenance part goes through rigorous inspections and is checked by a mechanic, inspector and test pilot prior to being released. To say it was grounded earlier in the day means little because for safety sake an aircraft will get grounded for minor things until they are fixed.

[evian_ycnan]

More people are killed, falling off ladders than die in Helicopter crashes, But more people fly in Helicopters every year than than those that fall off ladders

Posted by ToolMangler at 08:21 PM : Jan 12, 2009

Okay, Mangler... You are comparing the death rate of all persons who fly in helicopters to those who actually fall off ladders.

The correct comparison would be comparing the death rate of those in helicopter crashes to the death rate of those who fall off ladders, or comparing the death rate of all who ride in helicopters to all who climb on ladders. See? Either way, I''ll bet the helicopter loses.

[alaskatex]

From what I heard something fell off the rotar. Plus the thing was grounded earlier that day. Who knows if it is true we will find out soon enough. Thank goodness there were no students on board. Also Duncan field is right next to a dining facility and dorms for the Corps students. Luckily no one else was hurt.

I am an Texas A&M Grad and my husband is in the military, I can say that I would cringe every time I would hear he had to get on a blackhawk. I don''t trust the military to take care of our soldiers anymore.
Remember, Soldiers are an instrument to enforce the will of the American people and her elected officials. Military members want nothing more than to be safe at home. Don''t forget that we have used blackhawks for humanitarian work when that is what they have been asked to do. The blackhawk is not the killing machine.