(Source: Matthew Cox – Military.com) – A ‘Disturbing Pattern’ of Deadly Army Black Hawk Crashes Has Lawmakers Asking Questions
A Democratic senator from New York has called on the new defense secretary to investigate a « disturbing pattern » of UH-60 Black Hawk crashes that have claimed the lives of nine Army National Guard soldiers since December 2019.
« Three crashes involving the National Guard’s use of the UH-60 in just over a year raises significant concerns about a systemic issue with the Black Hawk helicopter operation cycle, » Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a Feb. 5 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. (…)
The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, is investigating the recent Idaho and New York Guard crashes as « disparate events, » Gillibrand said in her letter.
The summary results of the December 2019 Minnesota Guard UH-60 crash investigation concluded that the « helicopter’s number one engine failed during a maximum power check while the number two engine was in an idle setting, causing a dual engine-out condition. The failure was attributed to the incorrect installation of the engine’s hydromechanical unit, » Gillibrand said in the letter.
The investigation also found that the pilots failed to react properly to the critical situation and follow emergency procedures. (…)
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Photo © Airman 1st Class Chase Cannon, U.S. Air Force, as published in ibid
