1988 — March 8, US Army Blackhawk Helicopters collide, Fort Campbell, KY/TN — 17
— 17 AP/Strauss. “17 Die as Helicopters Collide During Army Training Mission.” 3-9-1988.
— 17 Associated Press. “17 Die in Collision of Army Copters.” New York Times, 3-10-1988.
— 17 Baugher, Joseph F. 1985 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-27-2011 revision.
— 17 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 151.
Narrative Information
AP, March 9: “Fort Campbell, Ky., March 9 — Two Army helicopters collided on a training missing Tuesday night, killing all 17 soldiers aboard, the Army said. After the collision the two helicopters, UH-60 Blackhawks based at Fort Campbell, plunged 250 feet to the ground and burned….
“The Blackhawk, one of the newest helicopters used by the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, has been grounded four times in the last three years. Last summer officials said about 40 people had been killed in crashes of the helicopter since 1978…
“Major Schoel [military spokesman] said the helicopters were flying in a ”routine” night mission. ”Obviously, there’s an element of risk in everything we do,” he said. ”We train up to a standard that reduces that risk to an absolute minimum. Yes it can be, but it’s not necessarily, more dangerous to fly at night.” Officials said the weather was good, which in military terms means visibility of better than a mile and a cloud ceiling of at least 500 feet.
“The helicopters were flying at 92 miles per hour and about 250 feet above the ground when they collided, Major Schoel said. Another spokesman, William Harralson, said the collision occurred when one helicopter, flying alone, struck one of three helicopters that were flying in formation. ”There were three aircraft in formation, if you want to say ducks in a row, headed east, and another who was flying solo, hit one of those,” Mr. Harralson said. The helicopter flying alone carried four servicemen; the 13 others were aboard the second craft. One of the other helicopters returned to Fort Campbell; the other landed at the crash site to aid in the investigation….
“The Army’s fleet of 820 UH-60s was grounded twice in May 1987, once for inspection and once because of a design flaw. The entire fleet also was grounded in April 1985 and March 1986 after fatal crashes. In 1985, the Army identified a defect in the main rotor assembly and ordered it corrected.
“The Blackhawk is designed primarily as a utility and assault aircraft and is used in air assault, air cavalry and medical evacuation, said Maj. Phil Soucy, a spokesman for the Army in Washington. The helicopter normally is operated with a crew of three and can carry 11 combat-equipped soldiers.” (Associated Press. “17 Die in Collision of Army Copters.” NYT, 3-10-1988.)
AP/Strauss, March 9: “Mar. 9, 1988 6:37 PM ET. Fort Campbell, KY (AP) — Army crews Wednesday retrieved the last eight bodies of 17 soldiers killed when two helicopters on a night training mission collided, ten plunged 250 feet to the ground and caught fire. TH UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Fort Campbell spewed wreckage for hundreds of yards and charred the partially wooded, gently rolling site six miles from the choppers’ air field Tuesday night. ‘One aircraft is located in the trees. One aircraft is right on the edge of a clearing,’ said Maj. Randy Schoel, Fort Campbell spokesman.
“It was the worst Army aviation disaster since 248 soldiers based at Fort Campbell were killed in 1985 in the crash of a chartered plane in Gander, Newfoundland, Schoel said….
“Four bodies were taken from the wreckage of each helicopter Wednesday, Schoel said.
“Schoel said the crash occurred on the western Kentucky-Tennessee border during a ‘routine night mission,’ and left no survivors….
“The helicopters were flying at 92 mph air speed and about 250 feet from ground when the collided, Schoel said. One of three helicopters flying in formation was hit by a fourth, said William Harralson, deputy public affairs officer at the fort. ‘There were three aircraft in formation, if you want to say ducks in a how, headed east, and another who was flying solo, hit one of those,’ said Harralson….
“The solo helicopter carried four servicemen; the 13 others were in the other aircraft….
“One helicopter crashed on the Tennessee side of the border, the other in Kentucky….
“One of the other Blackhawk helicopters returned to the air field; the other landed at the crash site….” (Associated Press (John Strauss). “17 Die as Helicopters Collide During Army Training Mission.” 3-9-1988.)
Baugher: “Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk….24462 (101st Avn) crashed near Fort Campbell Mar 8, 1988 after colliding with UH-60A 87-24606. Total of 17 personnel killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1985 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-27-2011 revision.)
Gero: “The two turbine-engine helicopters [85-24462 & 87-24605] collided in mid-air, then crashed and burned at the Fort Campbell military reservation, and all 17 American servicemen aboard both aircraft were killed. Involved in the accident were the leader of a flight of three rotorcraft (85-24462), which altogether had just picked up some three dozen soldiers and was itself carrying 10 passengers plus a crew of three, and the individual UFI-60 (87-24605), which had been on a training flight with four crewmen aboard.
“The group had just taken off and was climbing when the pilots of the two other aircraft observed, in the darkness, the navigation lights of the lone helicopter at their 3 o’clock position, and successfully initiated evasive action. However, the flight leader was struck by 87-24605, the impact shearing off the aft section of the former’s tail boom and two of the latter’s four main rotor blades. The collision occurred at an above-ground height of approximately 150ft…in visual meteorological conditions, with a ceiling of 8,000ft…and a visibility of 7 miles… In a brief statement, military authorities attributed the accident to ‘pilot error’ to wit, a reasonable mistake in judgment. Considered as contributory were…the limited filed of view of the night-vision goggles being used by both crews, which also hampered their ability to see each other.” (Gero 1999, pp. 145-146)
Sources
Associated Press (John Strauss). “17 Die as Helicopters Collide During Army Training Mission.” 3-9-1988. Accessed 9-30-2016 at: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1988/17-Die-As-Helicopters-Collide-During-Army-Training-Mission/id-e41aecb18eaf465ae1c28152de3ff551
Associated Press. “17 Die in Collision of Army Copters.” New York Times, 3-10-1988. Accessed 9-30-2016 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/10/us/17-die-in-collision-of-army-copters.html
Baugher, Joseph F. 1985 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-27-2011 revision. Accessed 3-14-2012 at:
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1985.html
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.