Home » SOF News » NEWS: Helo Carrying SEAL Team 3 SEALs Experienced Mech. Failure

NEWS: Helo Carrying SEAL Team 3 SEALs Experienced Mech. Failure

by Brandon Webb · August 17, 2012 · Posted In: SOF News

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Brandon Webb

Brandon Webb is a former U.S. Navy SEAL with combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the Middle East. His last tour in the SEAL Teams was as the Course Manager for the US Navy SEAL Sniper program, arguably one of the most difficult sniper courses in the world. He was formerly a contributing editor for Military.com, and currently the Editor-in-Chief of SOFREP.com. Brandon is regularly featured in the media as a subject matter expert on military affairs. An avid writer, his last two books (The Red Circle, & Benghazi: The Definitive Report) both hit the New York Times best seller list, and his writing has been featured in print, and digital media worldwide. You can follow him on Twitter @BrandontWebb

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43 comments

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SEAN SPOONTS

It appears that the Black Hawk was from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade based in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks. There are some reports that the Black Hawk was flying out of or aborting a landing in a hot LZ when it was shot down.

ArcticWarrior

1 Like

@SEAN SPOONTS

Thats a good and very busy group of guys and gals, from their heavy lift to the Pathfinder Co. they are solid, no amatuers. Sad all around.

plainolamerican88

1 Like

Active duty, Reserve, Guard or a veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount of up to and including their life.” That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

I'm honored yet humbled to have also served in the world's greatest NAVY like these men. Rest easy bros.

Frosty

1 Like

Helicopters not insurgents seem to be the bane to Special Operation forces.

SEAN SPOONTS

1 Like

@Frosty Yep. Even in peace time the most dangerous occupational speciality in the military is Air Crew. And about 75% of the aircraft mishaps are helicopters.

RobinInman907

RIP Brave Warriors. Prayers to your Family and Friends.

HEPD_Express

my gut tells me this is gonna get blown out of proportion simply because Navy brass needs scapegoats to ride this thing out...but more importantly, RIP brothers, see y'all on the other side.

MedicSteve2

Godspeed! Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. --Tennyson

SeanGH

These lads will be honored each and every day as I do to all of our brothers/sisters in arms. Godspeed shipmates.....

LeverAction

damm it so much

Tango9 moderator

8 Like

Brandon, I know this one hits close to home. So sorry, my friend. Our thoughts and prayers.

The Midnight Philosopher

3 Like

It's time to roll out of that crap hole, with Karzi talking his ish, and phony ass Afghan "Friends". Let those people have their county, the hundreds of millions we give that country are all for nothing! I pray that all my brothers and sisters will be home soon in the arms of their families.

Breach

@The Midnight Philosopher I agree. It's long past time to GTFO.

Nate226

there was another one today, with a afgan police officer, i guess the guy graduated, they handed him his rifle and he shot his US trainers from what i heard, besides that other one earlier this week were they invited our guys over for dinner and started shooting

bmessenheimer

1 Like

@Nate226 The 3 from earlier were the MARSOC bubbas. SOP is changing as a result, but far too late

bmessenheimer

4 Like

Damn. We lost 6 MARSOC brothers over the past 2 weeks, and now ST3 and support element this week. Absolutely sick over any loss of our warriors, but the number of specialized assets parrishing in such a short period of time is alarming. RIP brothers, and we will see you again in Valhalla

Nate226

3 Like

been thinking about donating next week, either Navy Seal Foundation or Lone Survivor Foundation

FLNavyVet

6 Like

@Nate226 Both of those are top notch causes. As people are reading these threads, please keep the Fisher House Charity in mind as well. This group helps house and care for family members of the injured as they are treated. As our heroes are cared for at Walter Reed (and many other places), Fisher House is there to care for the families in their time of need. They are a fantastic organization.

rnbesq

@FLNavyVet @Nate226 FYI, Jay Leno auctioned off a new FIAT recently and donated the $350K, along with another $250K ($600,000 total) to Fisher House Foundation. What a guy! http://www.fisherhouse.org/news/2012/august/jay-leno-raises-600000-for-fisher-house-through-fiat-500-auction

engelbrad

1 Like

@FLNavyVet

Great advice.. also you can sometimes find direct injection... like the "Bo" fund:

Donations may be made at the First Interstate Bank Billings Heights branch, 730 Main St., Suite 100, Billings, Mont., 59105. Donations may also be mailed to Dana and Jenn Brumwell, 2105 Concord Drive, Billings, MT, 59102. Checks should be made to the Bo Reichenbach Benefit Fund Read more: http://sofrep.com/10354/news-navy-seal-critically-wounded-in-afghanistan/#ixzz23sABLgwi

Here's my take on this... If we can get 100,000 people to donate $1.... we have a chunck. There are definately 100,000 people that would give a dollar with out even thinking and love to do it for a wounded vet. If I can get ten and you can get ten etc...etc... you get the idea.

However you donate... thank you and feel great about it. It's a chance to serve for those of us that did not.

LauraWalkerKC moderator

The location was Shah Wali Kot district, Khandahar province.

LauraWalkerKC moderator

3 Like

Oh the Taliban will have it an ambush w/ RPGs and twice the personnel. And if this happens in the Caucasus ol' Kavkaz will give you a triple kill count.

Math is hard.

Bombsqd318

5 Like

AN EPITAPH FOR THE FALLEN

Rest, oh fallen soldier, rest at peaceful ease! Today, in final departure, you lay before a grateful nation, and in spirit, you drape the hearts of those you so gallantly defended! The banner of your life, like an eternal flag rising, now calmly waves within us, and in honor, there it will fly forever, at half-mast.

Oh, lost defender, embrace in God’s comfort as we sing proudly of his songs, to guide you on your way, and to soothe our sorrow-filled souls. Listen! You can hear the beating grow louder, and louder, as the many hearts touched by your life beat out the echoes of a loved one’s loss. Suddenly your there, and reassurance comes to fill the void of your ever present watch.

Now, your final journey begins, and a womb of guiding light encompasses you in love, as the memories of a soldier, “as you were” are remembered by those who now honor your life. Behold, our honored hero, all of one’s lost emotions from life’s fortress of restrain, all of them stolen from a soldier’s forgotten youth. There, in the grace of God, every unshed tear brings a river of joy, to drown away any remaining pain, born to a warrior’s need to be strong

David Charles Lessard

NMOne

4 Like

One thing I've noticed with my local stations is that there is zero coverage of this helo crash. This site is the first I've heard of it. Compared to the constant coverage of the two servicemen killed by their ANA recruit. Either way, both situations are tragic losses.

RIP

eod1286

1 Like

eod has been hit hard lately

LauraWalkerKC moderator

5 Like

@eod1286 EOD folks are saints.

FLNavyVet

3 Like

@LauraWalkerKC EOD tend to be the forgotten heroes. They can get deployed with any team and in most cases have the job of "learning on the spot" and in a lot cases, team's success depends on these guys.

Nothing but respect for the SEAL teams, those guys are rock stars. But, I have nothing but respect for the EOD guys. Same attitude and fortitude, but willing to stare down death and laugh in it's face.

Connor31

3 Like

RIP. High, hot, and heavy are the most dangerous conditions for helos. Any news about which unit the pilots and crew belonged to?

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

Either Way this sucks

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

I don't know whether to be relived that the Afghani's can't claim a kill or be angry at the maint guys.

Connor31

7 Like

@Old PH2 Don't be mad at the maintenance guys. Afghanistan is an extremely austere environment, especially in the summer. It can get around 45 degrees Celsius. There's a reason why Chinooks are preferred over the Black Hawks (In Afghanistan). Tandem rotors provide exceptional lift in high-hot conditions,

SEAN SPOONTS

@Connor31 @Old PH2 No doubt the maintainers at that squadron are sweating bullets over the cause of that crash. If the CI pins it on something Maintainence did people will go to prison. The crash sounds like a transmission. Failure at low altitude. No time to set up for an autorotation and get down safely. Those tranmissions are generally reworked at an intermediate maintenance facility away from the squadron and come back in a crate to be switched out after a certain number of hours.

SEAN SPOONTS

@Old PH2 I worked like hell for 3 months to rate as the Plane Captain for my A/C. I was also working on my NATOPS qual for my wings and training for deployment. It bugged the shit out of me to have a guy not flying in my A/C do the turn around and daily inspections while I stood there and watched.

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

@SEAN SPOONTS If you had a turd running your Maintenance Dept. the level of trust necessary for mission completion would evaporate. I worked for some real ball busters, and yes I remember 18hr days. Sounds crazy coming form a PH but can you say collateral duty inspector? Being cross trained to do final checks opened up more workers to preform the actual maintenance. And by god you better no your shit!

SEAN SPOONTS

@CJCJ The blame has to fall. Somebody has to account for 8 dead people, a blown mission(that somebody else has to go do now at great peril to themselves) and a lost multi-million dollar aircraft. The military has all these checks and balances in place to try and make the most dangerous flying environment in the world as safe as it can be. If the military wasn't willing to seek out and assign blame for mishaps like this, people like me would have never volunteered to fly. I want the person or persons who were careless, reckless or negligent to get hammered if they do something that gets me killed or my squadron mates killed. I just want it to be a fair, objective and just process. Sometimes it isn't, but it has to be as good as we can make it.

CJCJ

@SEAN SPOONTS @Old PH2 @Connor31

"The dead have left all their toubles behind, now the living have to deal with the causes and effects. Some people will wish they were dead before its all done."

Well said. Very sobering, very unfortunate, and very sad. Your description explains why pinning fault on the dead, rightly or wrongly, is usually the path of least resistance.

SEAN SPOONTS

@Old PH2 @Connor31

Don't know enough to be sure. Just a hunch. If its a Navy bird there will be a Safety Investigation first to see if there is any systemic problem with the A/C type that could effect all the airframes of that type, which has priority and then the Aircraft Mishap Board will do their thing to figure out how it crashed. That's when the cold dead hand of blame taps someone on the shoulder and says "Your negligent performance of duty resulted in the loss of service member lives and this aircraft." And the blame seldom attaches itself to just one guy, it's usually several people who get it in the neck right up the line. The dead have left all their toubles behind, now the living have to deal with the causes and effects. Some people will wish they were dead before its all done.

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

@SEAN SPOONTS @Connor31 @Old I recall most of the work at the NARF level was performed by contractors. I agree with your analysis about the failure Sean too much gone wrong too low. The town I live in was a major supplier of transmissions for UH-1's back in the day, recall seeing those crates even in the early 90's.

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

@Connor31 I was a maint green shirt in the Navy so yeah, I don't really blame them. Fact is Sean Spoonts and I ran around this subject a while back. I still hate the way Aircrews get blamed for most of the losses, but human error is a serious contributing factor.

CJCJ

@Old PH2 While pilot error resulting in a CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) accident is a possibility, early reports are that it happened in daylight with weather not being a factor. The pace of ops over the years in harsh environments is stressing and wearing out equipment prematurely. Metal fatigue cracks invisible to the eye can develop and require special equipment to be detected. These fatigue checks are usually only done during extensive time consuming maintenance overhauls. Left undetected those cracks can become breaks when stressed causing catastrophic failure. A few years back, the fuselage of an F-15 failed while in flight resulting in the separation of the cockpit from the rest of the bird due to fatigue. A sudden deviation from a safe and stable flight path trajectory in daylight absent adverse weather conditions with two pilots at the controls suggests to me a catastrophic mechanical failure due to metal fatigue or enemy fire, and or the incapacitation of the pilots, resulting in a loss of control. If not due to enemy fire or pilot error, then emergency inspections for the suspect parts need to be ordered ASAP for that fleet to prevent this from claiming more lives.

ajkmidget96

1 Like

@Old PH2 i dont think its neccesarily maint.'s fault, sometimes shit happends.

rip

Old PH2 moderator

1 Like

@ajmidget94 Your right of course, but have you ever been part of an accident review investigation? Witch hunt is putting it Mildly. Talk to Sean Spoonts, he's had plenty of hrs in helos.

The Midnight Philosopher

3 Like

Damn, RIP brothers.

NEWS: Helo Carrying SEAL Team 3 SEALs Experienced Mech. Failure

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