RIP brothers (Page 1/1)
maryjane FEB 08, 09:47 AM
5 US Marines confirmed dead in the crash of a CH53E from MAG16, HMH 361. Went down in rough terrain and during really crappy weather about 35 miles East of San Diego Calif.
Freedom is never free..
82-T/A [At Work] FEB 08, 12:26 PM
A lot of people forget that many military deaths occur in peacetime and during training exercises. It's not always on the battlefield, but still felt equally.
Raydar FEB 08, 12:35 PM
They were talking about this on the local radio station.
Someone questioned the wisdom of doing this exercise at all, considering the weather.
I was wondering to myself if that would even be more than a passing consideration...

My condolences to all who were affected by this, regardless.
maryjane FEB 08, 02:07 PM
"One must learn to sail, in all seas..


In every clime and place..

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-08-2024).]

Sage FEB 08, 09:55 PM



cliffw FEB 10, 02:29 PM
Do not troops parachute from helicopters ?
cvxjet FEB 10, 03:13 PM
I believe that this was a combination of (Really) Extreme weather mixed with dangerous terrain (Mountains)

I was actually surprised that my 6' fence was not blown down.....this was very high winds...and extremely gusty which is very dangerous for aircraft.

Yes, we need to have our troops learn to deal with bad conditions...but this was a really bad storm.

Back in 2005 I got into a situation with a fellow civilian at CG station SFO....she accused me of cursing, etc...Luckily the supply officer overheard what had transpired and so I was cleared.....a few years later, that officer transferred from HH-65 to C-130 squadron.....and in 2009, he was piloting a C-130 of the SoCal coast at night on a rescue mission and collided with a Marine Cobra helo without any lights.....no survivors....

That officer/pilot, Che Barnes, was a very good, nice person- and a great pilot...and, of course the rest of the crew were people who would put their life on the line to rescue people...

We need people who will do the job- even when it is dangerous....but please be careful!
maryjane FEB 11, 08:23 AM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:

Do not troops parachute from helicopters ?



Yes, but in emergencies, there almost always is not time and, the crew do not wear or even carry parachutes as a matter of everyday flight. I wore a chute only twice in my year aboard CH-53s and that was only because we were doing flare drops from a high altitude and if a flare ignited aboard the aircraft, there wouldn't have been time to autorotate before the white phosphorous burned thru the fuselage and engulfed the whole airframe.

Odd, that the list of KIAs list 3 pilots and 2 crew chiefs, with one of the crew chiefs being an E-3. That would have been unheard of with my squadron as all the crew chiefs were E5 and never carried but one CC. 2 pilots, 1 crewchief and 2 gunners was the normal crew.

I have not seen any photos of the crash site but I suspect they flew into a mountain side. Why, is anyone's guess at this point. Engine failure (outside of inlet icing) probably was not an issue as it has 3 engines and can still fly with any 2 disabled. With it's modern electronics, it was qualified to and should have been able to, fly thru bad weather at night. AFAIK, the 53E has both main and tail rotor de-icing capabilities, tho I'm not sure about the EAPS.