U.S.

Crash Probe Eyes Collision

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 13, 2001 / 5:36 AM EST / CBS

Six soldiers died and nine others were injured when two Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed Monday during a nighttime exercise on the island of Oahu.

The names of the dead and injured were not disclosed, pending notification of their families. Seventeen soldiers were aboard the two aircraft.

"It is my understanding that somehow or other they came in contact," Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters in response to questions on the crashes of the two UH-60 Black Hawks Monday night during a troop training exercise on Hawaii's Oahu island.

But Quigley said details of the accident, in which all six soldiers on one of the helicopters died and nine of the 11 on the other helicopter were injured, were not clear.

Maj. Cynthia Teramae, an Army spokeswoman, said the injured were being treated at local hospitals. She did not have details on their condition.

The accident occurred in a remote area about 7:40 p.m. Hawaii time Monday (12:40 a.m. EST).

It was initially believed the two helicopters collided in the air, but that has not been confirmed and will be determined in an investigation, said Maj. Nancy Makowski, a spokeswoman for the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks.

"They (pilots) were wearing night vision goggles," Quigley said, adding that the accident occurred in a light rain and that visibility was at an acceptable distance of about 3,500 feet.

The accident was in a remote military area and accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles because of the wet conditions, said Mandy Shiraki, district chief of the city ambulance services.

The two aircraft crashed about 200 yards apart, said Capt. Stephen Johnson, whose fire company came from the nearby Sunset Beach station.

"I heard a big thud," said Perry Dane, who lives on Kamehameha Highway about a mile from the crash site. "It sounded like thunder. It shook, too, like a big rattle."

When paramedics and firefighters reached the scene, it was raining heavily and had been raining on and off all day, creating muddy conditions at the site, he said.

There were five or six helicopters in the flight — part of the Army Hawaii's two-week Lightning Thrust Warrior exercise, which began Feb. 5 — but only two were involved in the crash, Shiraki said.

A total of thirty helicopters were involved in ferrying nearly 1,000 soldiers from Wheeler Army Airfield to a base in Kahuku, according to an earlier Army advisory warning of possible noise disturbing residents.

The Black Hawk is a light transport helicopter that is the primary helicopter for air assault, air cavalry and aeromedical evacuations units. Each helicopter can transport an 11-staff squad.

The crash marked the second deadly military accident in Hawaii in a week. Nine people are feared dead after a U.S. nuclear submarine sank a fishing trawler training Japanese high school students on Friday.

In Norfolk, Va., President Bush led a silent prayer Tuesday for victims of the helicopter accident.

Speaking to a military audience at the Norfolk Naval Air Station, Mr. Bush said, "Just this morning, we were reminded of the risks of your duty and the sacrifices that you make."

"I ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer for the dead, the wounded and missing crew members of the 25th Infantry Division, who were involved in a training accident on Oahu," he said.