1996 — May 10, Two U.S. Marine Helicopters Collide, Camp LeJeune, NC — 14

— 14  Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (150139 to 156169). 10-29-2011.

— 14  CNN. “Marine Helicopters Collide at Camp Lejeune; 14 Dead,” May 10, 1996.

— 14  New York Times. “Mid-Air Copter Collision Kills 14 Marines in South.” May 11, 1996.

— 14  US Dept. Navy. Casualties: US Navy…Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured…

 

Narrative Information

 

Baugher: “Vertol CH-46F Sea Knight….156436 (c/n 2506) destroyed May 10, 1996 at Camp Lejeune in midair collision with AH-1W 161022, killing 14, the only survivors being the 2 CH-46 pilots. Both aircraft were assigned to HMM-266.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (150139 to 156169). 10-29-2011.)

 

May 10, CNN: “Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (CNN) — Fourteen U.S. servicemen were killed Friday morning when two U.S. Marine helicopters collided during massive U.S.-British war games. Camp Lejeune spokesman Maj. Steve Little said a CH-46 Sea Knight and an AH-1 Cobra collided in a wooded area on the base at about 2 a.m. Twelve Marines, a Navy sailor and an Army soldier were killed.  Little said the Cobra had a two-man crew, and the CH- 46 had 14 people aboard, including a crew of four. The pilots of the CH-46 were the only survivors. One was in critical condition, the other escaped with minor injuries. Over 50,000 military personnel from Britain and the U.S. are participating in the war games.

 

“There have been nine Marine Corps aircraft crashes in 1996 — the highest number of major accidents for that branch of the service in six years. The Corps suspended non-essential flight operations for two days in March to review safety rules.” (CNN. “Marine Helicopters Collide at Camp Lejeune; 14 Dead,” May 10, 1996.)

 

May 10, NYT: “Camp LeJeune, N.C., May 10 — Fourteen marines were killed and two were injured before dawn today when two helicopters collided and plunged into a densely forested marsh in an isolated part of this Marine Corps base in eastern North Carolina. The cause of the crash, which happened at 2 A.M. during a huge American-British amphibious-assault exercise, is still under investigation, officials said.

 

“Of the injured, one was listed in critical condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville and the other was listed in serious condition at the base hospital. No British troops were involved in the crash.

 

“By midafternoon 11 bodies of the crash victims had been recovered from the scene. But it took until about 4:30 P.M. for the final 3 bodies to be recovered from the muddy and wooded area where rescuers toiled for more than 16 hours. It was an indication, a marine spokesman said, of the conditions in the forest. The search was hampered as tractors sank up to their tread tops in the muck and rescuers resorted to cutting pathways with chainsaws and fashioning walkways over the shifting ground with slabs of plywood. “It is very thick pine forest and swamp,” said Maj. Steve Little, a spokesman. “It has been difficult, especially difficult before dawn as we began the recovery. It has been made easier with more light.”

 

“Major Little said the marines were part of a joint exercise including 38,200 American troops and 15,600 British troops. The helicopters involved were an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter with a two-person crew and a CH-46E Sea Knight, an assault and transport helicopter that can carry as many as 22 people in addition to its crew of 4.  The helicopters had taken off earlier that night from ships massed off the North Carolina coast and headed inland to where the accident occurred near the Courthouse Bay boat basin at the 150,000-acre base….

 

“Today’s accident was deadliest for the Marine Corps since 1989, when 14 people were killed in the crash of another Sea Knight off Okinawa. More than twice as many marines have died in aviation accidents in the last eight months as were killed in such accidents in the previous two years. The total killed so far this year in aviation accidents, counting today’s deaths, is 19. In 1995 there were 6 aviation deaths and in 1994 there were only 3 such deaths.

 

“It was a Harrier jet crash here in 1993 that prompted the Marine Corps to order a rare 48-hour suspension of all fixed-wing and helicopter flights to conduct emergency safety checks. In that year, 12 people were killed in aircraft accidents. As recently as March the Marine Corps called another two-day halt to all aircraft flights for emergency checks.

 

Col. Joe C. Yannessa, commander of the rescue operation, said the collision had occurred in midair over the densely pine-forested marshland and rained debris over a 150 yard area. Colonel Yannessa said rescue crews on foot and carrying nothing more than their packs and hand-held fire extinguishers got to the section of swamp 600 yards from the nearest road within 30 minutes of the crash. There were several smoldering fires scattered throughout the area… “The aircraft frankly is in such a state of destruction that there are no identifying marks that we could see on the aircraft,” Colonel Yannessa said. “They were sunk three to four to five feet into the muck.”

 

“Early efforts by Forest Service tractors to plow out a roadway to the crash scene were futile, he said, adding that they just kept sinking into the muck. Dozens of rescuers, carrying chainsaws and wearing firefighting gear and respirators, eventually made their way to the scene through the loblolly pine saplings and thick stands of swamp laurel.

 

“In a videotape made by Marine Corps photographers as the cleanup and rescue continued late in the day, the gnarled and twisted metal of the aircraft could be seen partly submerged in the marshy loam. The camera scanned the tiny cockpit of the Cobra helicopter across an array of needle-frozen meters and gauges. Nearby a female Marine, her face flushed with exhaustion and wearing T-shirt on the hot and humid day, sat on a log.

 

“The Sea Knight helicopter, built by Boeing and powered by General Electric engines, dates back to 1962 and was used extensively during the Vietnam War. They were most recently deployed during the Persian Gulf crisis in 1990 and 1991 war and in the evacuation of people from the United States Embassy in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in 1991. But in June 1990 the entire fleet of the Sea Knight helicopters was grounded to correct mechanical problems only to be grounded again a month later to repair more problems.

 

“The Cobra, armed with cannon and TOW missiles, dates back to 1967. It was built by Bell-Textron and powered with Avco Lycoming engines. Versions of the aircraft are also used by the Israeli military. They flew support for American ground troops during the Persian Gulf war along with the larger Apache gunships.

 

“The aircraft and the troops were taking part in exercises in which the American and British commanders were trying to replicate the conditions of a potential Persian Gulf crisis similar to the one in 1990-1991. On Thursday Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and his British counterpart, Michael Portillo, visited the troops on the amphibious ships before they began their mock assault on the mainland during which the accident occurred.” (NYT. “Mid-Air Copter Collision Kills 14 Marines in South.” May 11, 1996.)

 

Naval Historical Center: “CH-46 “Sea Knight” and an AH-1W “Super Cobra” from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 266, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, collided above Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

 

MAJ Michael D. Kuszewski,

CAPT Scott T. Rice,

1st LT Joseph R. Fandrey,

1st LT Arthur J. Schneider,

CPL Brandon J. Tucker,

CPL Brian L. Collins,

CPL Britt T. Stacey,

CPL Erik D. Kirkland,

LCPL John P. Condello,

LCPL Jackie D. Chidester,

LCPL Jose L. Elizarraras,

LCPL Jorge E. Malagon,

Navy Hospitalman (HN) Brent W. Garmon, and an

Army sergeant…were killed. 10 May 1996.

 

Sources

 

Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (150139 to 156169). Jan 13 revision. Accessed 2-3-2016 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html

 

CNN. “Marine Helicopters Collide at Camp Lejeune; 14 Dead,” 5-10-1996. Accessed 2-3-2016 at: http://www.cnn.com/US/9605/10/chopper.crash/

 

New York Times. “Mid-Air Copter Collision Kills 14 Marines in South.” 5-11-1996. Accessed 2-3-2016 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/11/us/mid-air-copter-collision-kills-14-marines-in-south.html?pagewanted=1

 

United States Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center. Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action. Washington, DC: Washington Navy Yard. Accessed 2-3-2016 at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC/accidents.htm