 Thousands involved in annual war exercise
Danger part of life in the armed forces
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
KAHUKU — Six soldiers were confirmed dead and 11 more were injured when two Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed last night on the North Shore during a massive training exercise, the Army said.
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| Firefighters carry axes and other tools to the site of last night's helicopter crash.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser |
All told, there were 17 soldiers aboard.
It is still unclear if the helicopters collided, said Maj. Cynthia Teramae of the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks. Investigators from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., were expected to arrive today, she said.
The wreckage of the Black Hawks landed several hundred yards apart in rugged terrain at the Army’s Kahuku training area, about one mile mauka of the Kahuku Motocross Track, according to fire department Capt. Richard Soo.
The night crash was one of Hawai‘i’s worst military training disasters. The Black Hawks apparently crashed about 7:40 p.m., shortly after a simulated air assault began as part of a Lightning Thrust Warrior exercise.
The Black Hawk is considered the Army’s most versatile helicopter and has been in service since 1978.
The wreckage was found in a relatively clear area with low undergrowth, said Honolulu fire Capt. Stephen Johnson of the Sunset Beach station.
Some bodies were found outside the helicopters and some were underneath, said Mandy Shiraki, district chief for the city’s Emergency Medical Services.
"We didn’t see the worst of it," Johnson said. "But it was pretty bad."
Seventeen people were aboard the Black Hawks, which belonged to the 25th Infantry Division’s aviation brigade, said Army Maj. Nancy Makowski, spokeswoman for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army Hawaii.
"Our hearts are weary as we grieve with the families of these fine soldiers," Makowski said..
The crash came three days after another fatal military accident in Hawai‘i. On Friday, the nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine USS Greeneville collided with a Japanese fisheries training ship nine miles off the coast of Diamond Head. Nine of the 35 who were aboard the Japanese vessel are still missing.
Makowski said President Bush has been notified of the Black Hawk crash. Army officials were uncertain early today whether they would continue the two-week exercise.
The Black Hawks were practicing an air assault mission last night and were picking up and dropping off soldiers at the Kahuku training site. The exercise began at 7:30 p.m. Ten minutes later, the helicopters crashed.
Six soldiers were flown to Tripler Army Medical Center. One was dead on arrival. Another, with a minor injury, was airlifted to the Queen’s Medical Center.
Schofield Barracks’ acute care clinic treated two soldiers with minor injuries and were expecting four more.
The names of the victims were withheld. The dead soldiers belonged to the 25th Infantry Division’s aviation brigade and division artillery.
Four of the injured were listed in stable condition today at Tripler Army Medical Center. The other seven had been treated and released.
Last night, frantic relatives were desperate for information.
A baby cried outside a Schofield Barracks conference center shortly before midnight as its mother frantically asked about her husband. An officer at the door told her that he could only say that her husband was not among the dead.
"Thank God," said the woman, who would not give her name. "Can I ask about another name?"
The other man was not on the list, either.
Duty officers were posted outside Tripler to receive victims’ families.
One woman who did not want to give her name said she had not seen her husband but had been told that he was being treated for minor injuries.
She said she was "very relieved."
Inside, chaplains and counselors tended to victims’ families.
Rain that started about an hour and a half after last night’s helicopter crash hampered search and rescue efforts.
Rescue helicopters searched the area through dark and rainy skies. The Army also dispatched two pick-up trucks carrying search dogs.
"It’s really muddy up there, difficult walking around," Johnson said. "It’s been raining all day up there. There are roads all the way up there to the site, but it’s real wet and slippery."
Since Feb. 5, more than 4,000 soldiers have participated in Lightning Thrust Warrior — a battle scenario that has soldiers fighting a fictitious enemy on a fictitious island.
The air assault part of Lightning Thrust Warrior involved 30 helicopters ferrying nearly 1,000 soldiers from Wheeler Army Airfield to the training area.
The first report of the crashes came at 8:15 p.m.
The crashes sent dozens of Army, fire, police, O‘ahu Civil Defense and medical services personnel converging on the motocross track. Police blocked off one lane of Kamehameha Highway.
On March 5, 1996, an Army AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter crashed on a routine maintenance check flight in an uninhabited portion of Schofield Barracks, killing both crew members.
An Air Force HH-53 helicopter crashed off O‘ahu’s North Shore on Jan. 15, 1985. Six of seven rescue workers aboard were killed. One was missing and presumed dead.
Advertiser staff writers Tanya Bricking, Mike Gordon, Jennifer Hiller, Scott Ishikawa, Curtis Lum, Brandon Masuoka, David Waite and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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