Army helicopter stand down ending

The US Army is ending a 5 day stand down of helicopter aviation units in the US. The stand down covered 11 bases, and included the Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk. Since the Fiscal Year started on October 1, Army helicopter units have suffered 14 accidents. In the 2015 Fiscal Year, they suffered 16 accidents for the entire year, and 18 in FY14. There have been 8 deaths in the 14 accidents, all occurring in the last three. The stand down gave the units and Army a chance to review procedures, and see where changes needed to be made, or activities reinforced.

The US Army has grounded about 1,100 helicopters for five days to refocus on safety procedures following a rash of fatal accidents in November.

The “safety stand-down” from 3-7 December grounded aviation units at 11 bases in the continental USA operating a mix of Boeing AH-64 Apaches and CH-47 Chinooks, and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks.

“I have a duty to ensure that we are doing all that we can to prevent loss of life and aviation accidents, and that is why we’re standing down to review our procedures and reaffirm our commitment to operating our aircraft safely and effectively,” says Gen Robert Abrams, commander of US Army Forces Command.

www.flightglobal.com...

Did we lose a fighter yesterday?
I heard from friends who lost a family member in the middle east

a reply to: cavtrooper7

The last one that I heard of was a Viper out of Holloman a week or two ago, but the pilot got out.

I lost one of my friends and former platoon sergeant in the Fort Hood crash.

I served in Afghanistan with him when 4 of our members were killed in a crash caused by an IED.

Army aviation is a small community. One of the reasons I wanted out was that I couldn't take losing anymore of my friends. It's different when you're removed from the tragedy. But I was close to both.

a reply to: projectvxn

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't blame you for wanting out. Do they have any idea on cause yet?

a reply to: Zaphod58

No results have been released from the investigation. Since I'm on terminal leave I am no longer privy to the post accident reviews and briefings.

Let's hope and pray that they've fixed the problems and no more are lost.
The Ft. Campbell crash hit that community hard.
Thoughts and prayers to all the families.