[MilCom] 7 Killed in Army Helicopter Crash in Texas

[GG]

7 Killed in Army Helicopter Crash in Texas

14 minutes ago   U.S. National - AP


By NATALIE GOTT, Associated Press Writer

BRUCEVILLE-EDDY, Texas - An Army helicopter carrying seven soldiers crashed
and burned in the fog Monday after hitting a web of support wires on a TV
transmission tower whose warning lights had been knocked out in a storm last
week, officials said. Everyone aboard was killed.


AP Photo


AFP
 Slideshow: 7 Killed in Army Helicopter Crash in Texas

  Chopper With 7 Soldiers Crashes in Texas
(AP Video)



The UH-60 Black Hawk, bound for the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, went
down in a field about 30 miles northeast of Fort Hood. The fog was so thick
when emergency crews arrived that they could not see more than halfway up
the tower, authorities said.


The helicopter was headed to check out equipment being readied for use in
Iraq (news - web sites), said Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, spokesman for
the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division. The names of the victims, all
from Fort Hood, were not immediately released.


Rock Eicke, who lives a quarter-mile from the crash site, said he was
getting ready for work at about 7 a.m. when he was startled by a loud sound.
He looked out his window and saw the helicopter hit the ground.


"All of the sudden I just saw a big ball of fire erupt from the ground and
then boom, an explosion," Eicke said. "It was burning to the point that we
couldn't have done anything."


The main part of the fuselage went down in a field about 200 to 300 yards
from the tower, said McLennan County constable Ken Brown.


Eicke and Brown said charred and smoldering pieces of the helicopter were
scattered for hundreds of yards. Two of the bodies were seen inside the
helicopter; others were lying in the field.


An investigation team was sent to the scene to determine the cause of the
crash. Withington said the team's priority Monday night was "to secure the
scene and recover the bodies." He said other Black Hawk helicopters from
Fort Hood would pick up the bodies and return them to the post.


The helicopter hit several of 21 wires stabilizing the 1,800-foot tower,
said Jerry Pursley, general manager of Waco-Temple-Killeen station KXXV,
which owns the tower. The tower itself was not hit, he said.


The tower's lights stopped working early last week after strong storms hit
the area, Pursley said. He said the station notified the Federal Aviation
Administration (news - web sites).


FAA (news - web sites) spokesman Roland Herwig said the agency sent a notice
Wednesday to a computer database checked by pilots before they fly for
information on potential hazards. Hundreds of such notices are issued every
week around the country, and they typically stay posted for 15 days, he
said.


The crash occurred at the highest point in McLennan County, with 30
different towers within a five-mile radius of where the helicopter went
down, Sheriff's Deputy Shannon Mitchell said.


The Black Hawk, which the military began using in 1979, is the Army's main
troop transport helicopter. It can carry 15 people and usually is flown by a
crew of four.


In November 2003, 17 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters
crashed in Iraq, apparently as a result of enemy fire.




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