 Memorial page: Soldiers' Last Salute
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Army will retrieve two downed Black Hawk helicopters today and tomorrow from the Kahuku Military Training Area, where the two aircraft crash-landed during maneuvers Feb. 12.
The Army had no new information yesterday on the cause or sequence of events in the crashes, in which six people died and 11 were injured, and no timetable for completion of the investigation.
A private hauling contractor will transport the first helicopter today to a hangar at Wheeler Army Airfield near Schofield Barracks. The wreckage will be kept at the hangar while investigation of the cause of the crashes continues.
A flatbed truck transporting the helicopter and travelling at speeds of 25-30 mph may delay Kamehameha Highway traffic today, beginning at about 11 a.m. near Kahuku and ending at Wheeler about two hours later, an Army spokesman said, suggesting motorists may want to consider alternate routes or schedule travel accordingly.
The second helicopter, in which the six fatalities occurred, is scheduled to be moved by the same route tomorrow.
The latest announcements came as community support for the families of the dead and injured swelled with a $5,000 contribution by First Hawaiian Bank to a relief fund.
"The men and women of the military are a vital part of our Island community," said bank president Walter A. Dods Jr., "and we share in the pain of the families of the victims of this tragic accident."
Donations to the Soldiers Relief Fund can be made at any First Hawaiian Bank branch statewide or mailed to First Hawaiian Bank, Schofield Branch, P.O. Box 861598, Wahiawa, HI 96786, for the fund or in the name of individual victims.
Six Schofield Barracks soldiers were killed in the crash, one of Hawai‘i’s most deadly military training accidents, as the two Black Hawk helicopters were preparing to land. The Army still has not said whether the two aircraft collided before they came down.
Eleven soldiers were injured, and four of them were still hospitalized last night at Tripler Army Medical Center.
The two UH-60 Black Hawks were part of a group of four helicopters dropping off artillery, personnel and equipment from Schofield to support an air-assault training mission. Eight other Black Hawk helicopters had landed successfully after the mission began at 7:30 p.m., said Maj. Nancy Makowski, Army 25th Infantry Division public affairs officer. There was light rain and an easterly wind of 15 knots at the time.
The two Black Hawks were about 220 yards north of the landing site when they crashed, according to Army Brig. Gen. William Caldwell, assistant division commander for operations and training.
Both helicopters were about 100 feet in the air when the 7:40 p.m. accident occurred in the training area, about a mile mauka of the Kahuku Motocross Track, the Army said.
The Kahuku Motocross Track will remain closed until investigations are complete, the Army said.
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