Helicopter crashes, deaths reported (Afghanistan)

news.com.au ^ | 4/6/05

[jmc1969]

A US military CH-47 Chinook helicopter has crashed in south-eastern Afghanistan, with officials saying the bodies of at least two Americans have been recovered from the wreckage.

The US military had no official confirmation of the number of casualties from the accident in Ghazni province, US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore said.

But provincial governor Asadullah Khalid said a number of people had died in the crash in Dah Khudaidad district, 2.5km south-west of the provincial capital, Ghazni city.

"I went to the crash site," Mr Khalid said.

"We took two bodies out of the helicopter. There were more than two people in the helicopter.

"They were Americans" he said, without elaborating how he knew their nationality.

Mr Khalid said the crash was due to "bad weather".

[leadpenny]

Col Jack Jacobs just answered one of my questions. He is talking to Don Imus from Iraq and had just left Afghanistan about the time of the crash. He had visited troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and said the sand stroms are very unpredictable and you cannot climb high enough to get over them.

[leadpenny]

Col Jacobs did not mention it but I just remembered he told Imus last week he would be departing with other MOH recipients on a goodwill tour of the troops in A-Stan and Iraq.

[SevenMinusOne]

Have we heard yet from where these troops were from? Did they belong to the 173rd? -

[leadpenny]

Don't know but I suspect they were Special Ops.

[SevenMinusOne]

Don't know but I suspect they were Special Ops.

Since there hasn't been a release of what Unit these men were from yet, I too am starting to think they were SOF (I know the SEALs have been working in that area).

Also a few accounts I've read have said they were all US Servicemen "except" two or three (Sounds like it could have been a snatch and grab Op) - I wonder who the other two or three were (Possibly Afghan personal though).

[freepersup]

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Area marine dies in chopper crash
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE, Courier & Press staff 812 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
April 8, 2005

EVANSVILLE -- A Marine from Mount Vernon, Ind., was among 16 people confirmed killed in a desert helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Wednesday, according to members of his family.

"Jimmy Shawn" Lee, 26, who was known as Jimmy Shawn Gay until he adopted his ex-wife's name upon marriage in 1999, was scheduled to come home next week, his mother said Thursday. / * end of excerpt

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The notification of next of kin is ongoing... this Marine is one of the first KIA to be named in the press.

Two soldiers from the 25th ID ( Schofield Barracks ) have been identified, so far as to the unit they were from (possibly the aircrew of the helo)

I am currently in Afghanistan (southeast) and a dust storm is kicking up as I post this reply. Two days ago it was near zero visibility conditions due to a classic raging dust storm. The temperature dropped about 50 degrees or more in a few hours and the winds were really kicking up out of the southwest. Whether the conditions were the same up north is unknown.

The weather may have been OK for a flight up north, however by the time the helo was downrange the conditions likely changed (dramatically) catching the crew by surprise. Mechanical issues may be the root cause in the end. From my perspective, you did not want to be in the air two days ago. Flights were cancelled here due to poor weather / flight conditions.

Freedom isn't free-

The Marine's CH 46 helos definitely look like they have been rode hard and put away wet. It is a tribute to the air crews and ground crews that keep these birds flying, nothing short of amazing.

Op sec is very good here so most of what we learn comes from the www where op sec isn't so good.

[freepersup]

incoming ping

[MEG33]

May God comfort those who mourn...I thank you for the report and for serving our country.

[mystery-ak]

Thanks for the update....My hubby has said the same thing....these sand storms can develop so quickly and catch even the best pilot off guard....prayers for all their families..

[mom4melody]

Just found out a co-worker lost his son to this accident.

His name is Sam (I don't know his son's name). Please remember his family in your prayers.

Thanks

[mystery-ak]

Oh my....I certainly will.....sigh!

[Search4Truth]

Prayers for the deceased and the bereaved.

[SFC Chromey]

from http://www.defensetech.org/
April 8, 2005 10:08 AM Discuss

OSPREY SPRINGS A LEAK
It'd be really cool if the Marines could get a hold of a reliable, tilt-rotor aircraft that combined an airplane's speed with a helicopter's abilities to takeoff without a runway. Too bad the crash-prone V-22 Osprey ain't it. For what seems like the zillionth time, the tilt-rotor craft has broken down, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram is reporting.


Leaking hydraulic fluid triggered a fire in the engine compartment of one of the Marine Corps' newest V-22 Ospreys last week, the latest in a string of technical problems for the Bell Helicopter-built aircraft.

Navy and company spokesmen downplayed the seriousness of the fire, which they said was quickly extinguished and did little damage.

"There was never any danger to personnel or the aircraft," said Ward Carroll, spokesman for the Naval Air Systems V-22 Program Office...

Carroll said engineers were still investigating the cause of the hydraulic leak, which occurred in a low-pressure hydraulic line, not the more critical high-pressure lines.

Two V-22 crashes have been attributed in part to failed or leaking high-pressure hydraulic lines. In 1992, a leak led to an engine compartment fire that destroyed the drivetrain of a V-22 and caused a crash at Quantico, Va., that killed seven people.

A ruptured hydraulic line triggered a chain of events that led to another crash that killed four Marines in December 2000...

Before the Marines could begin the operational evaluation testing, the Navy and Pentagon were required to certify to Congress that a number of major issues had been adequately resolved, including the reliability of the V-22 hydraulic system.

Former Marine colonel and test pilot Bill Lawrence of Aledo, who has been critical of the V-22, said the fire was not a good sign for the safety and reliability of the Osprey.

"There are a ton of airplanes out there flying around with hydraulic fluid leaking and they don't catch on fire," Lawrence said.

[mjtobias]

"lost the crew and 18 troops heading for R&R...."

Oh my God! Was this ever reported in the news, or was it covered up?

[mystery-ak]

It was a huge story in Nov of 2003..

[Squantos]

V22's are zipping around the Panhandle of Texas like skeeters on a hot muggy day......lots of em ! Amarillo Bell Plant is the final assembly site.

No crashes yet.....:o)

Albeit I'm retired from the service and won't have to ride in em .....they appear to be doing pretty good. Flying in lots of bad weather etc etc ... Noisy SOB's though. They aint gonna sneak up on anything.

[OneOnHerOwn]

Jimmy Shawn was a friend of mine. It was an enormous loss for all of us. Please remember his family in your prayers.

CourierPress

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BOB GWALTNEY / Courier & Press

As Marine Jimmy Shawn Lee is buried, family and Marines watch after the military funeral at Maple Hill Cemetery in New Harmony, Ind., on Tuesday. During the service Lee’s uncle, Dennis Gross, flanked by his son, James, daughter, Sylvia, and wife, Janice, told how he helped raise Lee.

Honored in death
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
April 20, 2005

NEW HARMONY, Ind. - Felecia Olson never knew Jimmy Shawn Lee, her cousin who died fighting for his country in Afghanistan.

But she wishes she had known the 26-year-old Marine, who died in a helicopter crash on April 6.


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"It would have been a pleasure and an honor to shake his hand and thank him for the service he rendered in laying down his life for his country," said Olson, who traveled from Houston with her family to attend Lee's funeral Tuesday.

Like many other civilians who crowded inside the Werry Funeral Home, she wore an olive T-shirt with Lee's full name and date of death, proclaiming him "Our Hero."

Lee was one of 18 American servicemen and civilian contractors who perished in a desert helicopter crash while returning to Bagram Air Base after a routine mission. He was accorded full military honors, both at the funeral home and at Maple Hill Cemetery.

About 120 people - including several dozen Marines in dress blue uniforms and representatives of the other branches - attended. The contingent included a busload of Marines and sailors attached to Lee's unit in Marietta, Ga.

Staff Sgt. Dave Roof said the unit was scheduled to return to the United States just two days after Lee died in the crash of the CH 47 Chinook helicopter during a dust storm about 80 miles southwest of Kabul.

"Two days from coming home," lamented Roof. "Sgt. Lee was a good man. Everybody in our unit was better because of him. It's a shame that it took this tragedy to do it, but (Lee's death) has brought us closer together."

Members of Lee's family have said he was known as Jimmy Shawn Gay until he adopted his ex-wife's name upon marriage in 1999.

Speakers at the funeral described Lee as a devout Christian who witnessed to others in Afghanistan and aspired to one day travel the world as a missionary.

"Remember Jimmy Shawn, because you will see him again," said Navy Chaplain David Mills, who conducted the service.

Other Marines in attendance included groups posted in Atlanta, New Orleans, Terre Haute, Ind., and Johnstown, Pa.

Brigade Gen. Harold Fruchtnicht, commanding general of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing in New Orleans, also attended. Representatives of U.S. senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh spoke.

Members of Lee's immediate family and his ex-wife, Mi Sung Lee, received condolences and the grateful words of fellow Americans touched by his death.

Mi Sung Lee brought smiles when she told mourners she could better express her love and admiration for Lee if she could speak better English.

Members of Jimmy Shawn Lee's family have said he and Mi Sung Lee, whom he met during a previous deployment in South Korea, had made plans to remarry as soon as he could get back home. The couple were divorced shortly before his deployment to Afghanistan in September 2004.

Lee's mother, Rebecca Blanchard of Crossville, Ill., displayed in the funeral home a scrapbook of remembrances and photographs of her son. On the inside cover, Blanchard wrote a message to Lee's family and friends.

A portion of her hand-written remembrance read:

"Though he spent a mere 26 years upon the earth and will be so painfully missed, he did reach for and proudly achieve... every dream he ever had."