Back in April of this year a USMC CH-53E Super Stallion suffered a hard landing in Yuma, Arizona. The Marine Corps has released a report saying the cause of the incident was pilot error.

Watch: When a CH-53E Super Stallion Landed on the Beach

The April hard landing of a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that caused severe damage to the aircraft was the result of a steep bank at low altitude, a command investigation shows.

The incident, which took place April 5 aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, was miraculous in that all five Marines aboard the aircraft walked away uninjured, even though the aircraft rolled multiple times before finally settling upside-down in the desert.

“The investigation … reveals a breakdown in mission planning that is underpinned by inadequate risk management, inattention to detail, lack of understanding of aircraft systems and aerodynamics, and violation of [Angle of Bank] limitations and [Training and Readiness] program manual hard deck altitude for defensive maneuvering,” the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 16, Col. Craig LeFlore, wrote in an endorsement of the investigation. – Military.com

Featured image by USMC