Army defends using Black Hawk helicopters | Bryan/College Station, Texas

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Published Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:05 AM

Army defends using Black Hawk helicopters

By CASSIE SMITH
cassie.smith@theeagle.com

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is one of the U.S. Army's main workhorses, according to military officials.

It's one of the swiftest and best transport aircraft the Army operates, said Paul Boyce of the Army public affairs office.

One person was killed and five people injured Monday after one of the utility tactical transport helicopters crashed and scattered debris on the Texas A&M University campus.

"We're blessed in many ways," Boyce said, adding that the crash could have been much worse.

The crew had been shuttling members of Texas A&M's Corps of Cadets back and forth between College Station and Camp Swift, east of Austin. None of the 190 cadets practicing in the ROTC winter field training exercises were injured.

The cause of the accident was unknown Monday night. The Army will investigate the events leading to the crash, which occurred around 3 p.m. at Duncan Field.

"With the nature of any helicopter and the nature of the environment, there are unique circumstances that can affect the most experienced crew," Boyce said.

"At this point, obviously we have elements examining what has occurred," he said.

The helicopter, which carries two machine guns, can seat 11 fully equipped, battle-ready soldiers, he said.

There's no common cause for a Black Hawk helicopter crash, Boyce said.

"We specialize in a culture of lessons learned to determine what happened and prevent it from happening in the future," Boyce said.

Boyce said he couldn't recall an accident of this nature.

"As far as the mechanics of the Black Hawk goes ... the helicopter has proven itself in the past 10 years," he said.

The idea that Black Hawks are unsafe has almost become an urban legend, said Robert Bruce, Sam Houston State University associate professor of history.

"The Army wouldn't keep anything for 20 years if it was lousy," said Bruce, an expert in military history.

Used to transport troops, as opposed to being an attack helicopter, the Black Hawk flies low to the ground, following the contours of the Earth, Bruce said.

With fairly quiet engines, the helicopters fly low for protection in dangerous situations, he said.

They have a small margin for error because they fly so low and are more inclined to "bump" into things, though they are "very reliable," he said.

"But crashes tend to make headlines," he said. "The 99 thousand times it's a safe flight, no one cares."

The versatile Black Hawk has enhanced the mobility of the Army due to dramatic improvements in troop capacity and cargo lift capability, according to the Army's Web site. It provides the agility to get places more quickly and provides air assault, general support, aeromedical evacuation, command and control and special operations support. The Web site said the helicopter's frame is designed to crush in a certain way upon impact to protect the crew and passengers.

"It has been, in one shape or another, used heavily," Bruce said. The 22,000-pound, armored-framed helicopter can fly 163 miles per hour.

Boyce said the investigation would "take as long as it takes to determine the facts."

Boyce said he did not know whether this crash would impact whether military crews will train with the students in the future.

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5 comment(s) found!

Posted by: On: 1/14/2009

Comment Title: ROTC
Davis apparently does not understand that ROTC students need not be impressed by helicopter rides. These are Cadets (Army offices in training). VOLUNTEERS to provide the freedom of speech to those whom comment on articles like this one. The Soldier killed was a very close friend to many and a proud graduate of A&M and the Corps of Cadets. God Bless him and his family during this time of great sadness.

Posted by: A&M c/o '02 USAF pilot On: 1/13/2009

Comment Title:
ROTC cadets are not just 'students'. As cadets they are actually part of the Army and are in training to be future officers. ROTC is not just some "club" on campus. These men and women are training to be officers in the US Army, just as their counterparts at the various service academies. In the military we train like we fight. Our training isn't for fun, it's to expose us to the most realistic war conditions possible to gain valuable experience, it's to fight wars. Part of their training includes riding in helicopters, tanks, ect. People seem to forget those facts and the risks associated with them. We don't take buses to war now do we? In the year I was in pilot training, we lost half a dozen students to training accidents. Our training is hard for a reason, and yes accidents happen. Also, I'm fairly certain that you'll find that far more people have been killed in bus accidents than helicopter ones.

Posted by: On: 1/13/2009

Comment Title:
I don’t think they were on a thrill ride, rather a learning experience the ROTC is suppose to prepare them for the Military. Accidents happen and all lives are important. And yes while no students were hurt, there is still a mother and father that had to learn how their child died, whether they are a student or not. And remember these pilots and crews who run the military aircrafts of all sorts must get air time somehow at least they were doing it helping out an educational institution instead of just flying around. Life is about chance we all take them when we wake up in the morning. When we ride or drive a car we have more chance of getting hurt than individuals do riding in a Black hawk.

Posted by: David On: 1/13/2009

Comment Title:
Probably a fairly exciting way to travel for the ROTC students but not particularly efficient or safe, especially in light of the crash. To transport 190 ROTC students from College Station to just east of Austin one would think that buses would be the most economical and safest way to accomplish that task. I understand that the Army was trying to impress these young people by using the Black-Hawk in hopes that they will commit to the Army after graduation, but maybe using helicopters isn't the best way to do that, especially in light of what just happened. The commanding officers had to let out a huge sigh of relief knowing that they wouldn't have to explain to a mother and father how their child was killed in helicopter crash just because the Army wanted to give the students a thrill of riding in the Army's premier helicopter war machine. Hopefully common sense will prevail within Army staff and they will re-evaluate the use of using copters to transport students from a university campus.

Posted by: On: 1/13/2009

Comment Title:
The Black hawk is a very old design from the 70's. Black hawk first combat use was in the early 80's. It was a great improvement on the old Huey used in vietnam. Still it is old basic design that has worked well.