Posted on 03/08/2008 12:00:12 PM PST by SandRat
Navy officials have suspended parachute training at a facility near Marana after the second SEAL in less than a month died in an accident there.
The latest incident occurred at about 8 a.m. Thursday when a SEAL suffered fatal injuries during parachute training at Pinal Airpark, according to a news release from the Navy's Special Warfare Command.
The SEAL was flown to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The SEAL, who isn't being identified until his family is contacted, was based on the East Coast.
In the wake of Thursday's incident and another fatal parachuting exercise on Feb. 13, Navy officials decided to suspend training at the facility, said Cmdr. Greg Geisen, a Naval Special Warfare Command spokesman.
Officials at the airpark also will conduct a safety stand-down, which is when personnel check equipment and review safety procedures and training manuals, Geisen said during a phone interview from the SEALs' California headquarters.
"It's an opportunity to make sure everything is performed in the safest manner possible," he said.
On Feb. 13, Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas J. Valentine, 37, was killed during a free-fall parachute training exercise, which is similar to civilian skydiving.
His body was found at the Mission Royale Golf Course in Casa Grande, 30 miles south of Phoenix.
Valentine, from Minnesota, was a father of two who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The SEAL training conducted out of Pinal Airpark has gone on for several years.
While safety is a top concern, the type of training conducted by SEALs is "extremely challenging and has inherent risks," Geisen said in a press release.
The causes of the two fatalities appear to be different, Geisen said.
"It would be premature to make any conclusions before the investigators have had a chance to do their jobs," he said in the press release.
The SEALs, an elite special operations force known for their clandestine missions and training, are based in Coronado, Calif., and Little Creek, Va.
The Navy has about 2,450 SEALs, according to the group's Web site.
In addition to being used as a SEAL training site, Pinal Airpark, just north of Marana, is home to the Silverbell Heliport, a National Guard training center.
The heliport, known formally as the Western Army Aviation Training Site, is one of two Army National Guard aviation training sites in the nation, specializing in training pilots and support staff on the Apache Longbow attack helicopter.
● Contact reporter Aaron Mackey at 573-4138 or at amackey@azstarnet.com.
I know these guys are very dedicated. Hate to hear of these accidents. Prayers for family and friends.
heroes. and america’s best. God bless their families.
These honorable men risk their lives to protect the freedom that most of us take for granted and those on the left IMO seem to hate with a passion.
God bless them for it.
Hmmmmm.....accidents do happen but . Do we have a report on the cause of the last accident at that HALO/HAHO school ?
Gravity excluded ?
Students pack their own chutes, trash packing isn’t allowed and the riggers there are the best in the world. Chute Happens.....
Sad.
Prayers to his team and family, one in same I suppose........
Amen! They were doing what they loved best....
and protecting us in the process!
Any idea as to where the chutes are being made at now? There’s accidents no doubt it goes with being in the armed forces. But then there’s also quality control of the product itself.
What is “trash packing?”
MM
I seriously doubt that it was equipment failure, you never know, though...
RIP, SEAL. May God bless his family.
Prayers for the loved ones and future protection of our warriors.
Ping.
Civilian sport jumping requires that your reserve chute be packed by a licensed rigger every 60 days. I'm assuming that it is different in the military, specifically with seals...I would guess trash packing to mean that others pack your chute, or one guy packing many for the rest of the outfit.
Trash packing is just what it sounds like.
Rather than neatly folding the chute into the pack and carefully laying the lines, you just stuff the chute into the pack.
Just Damn, some of the best of the best of the best
That's just plain crazy...but then, after hundreds of jumps, I never had the opportunity to use my reserve.
Lots of factors , MC-3 or 4 is latest in the gear used I think. (I am retired now). Entire series is good stuff. Riggers go to lots of sources for canopy , harness, hardware etc . Lots of factors, hypoxia due bad aviator air before the jump. Ya have to breath that stuff for at least 30-45 minutes before a HAHO or HALO jump. Then there is even the smallest of factors such as a simple speed lacing on your boot can catch a shroud line, any part of your rigging can fail.
Not up on the latest and greatest. Broke my back in a thin air PLF last year I was in and retired when the 6 mile jog evey morning got to be painful.
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