OK, so the helicopter downed was on a "routine training" mission for

[hector459]

security during the upcoming election. So people are going to be voting a 1:30 am?

In another quote from an admin spokesperson, the chopper was flying at 1:30 am to AVOID BEING SHOT DOWN!!! So, they knew the potential existed in this area for the copter to be shot down YET the very first spin on this tragedy was that the WEATHER was probably the cause of the crash or mechanical failure. And it is for sure that NO helicopter was ever shot down in Iraq. They were all "accidents."

How much more of this shit are people going to take?

[Kota]

1. It seems like to many of these helicopters have crashed for

them all to be accidents.

[caligirl]

3. Have they really tried to say they 'are all ' accidents? Or even half?

My husband was a CH 46 pilot and flew with CH 53 pilots on cruise, otherwise they are in separate squadrons, and we did see alot of accidents in both helo types durting the 80's. Even a helo factory reps wife pulled me aside and asked what was going on. She felt then that we were having to many accidents for peacetime.(our kids played soccer together). It is a dangerous job, flying ancient helos is. That doesn't mean I think this too was an accident. I have another take on it so I' ll repost my comment from another thread.

[ynksnewyork2]

2. Helicopters crash all the time

In 2004, we've had 7 crash in the county I live in. 4 were on the golf course!

[caligirl]

4. my husband had to set one down in a farmers field. fortuantly the farmer

fed him and the others some of the cantelope. he had landed in a patch of cantelope.

[uppityperson]

11. Golf courses are good places to aim for when crashing

if you can aim. Do you live near a military base or have lots of helicopter traffic or just lucky?

[htuttle]

5. Apparently, they'd rather we believe that Marine pilots are incompetent

"It's never hostile fire. It's always some boneheaded pilot who didn't know what they were doing, or some lazy mechanic who forgot to tighten some bolts."

I don't know about you, but if I were a pilot, I'd prefer the truth be told rather than get blamed...posthumously, that is.

[caligirl]

8. What really pissed me off was when Congress could have chosen to replace

these relics and instead went for the F 18, which now even the f 18 is old and worn. My husbancd and many like him are and were terrific and highly skilled pilots. Great ones. But military flying is dangerous and these are old birds that should have been replaced. Not just refitted with new engines. And the crash I mentioned above, was due to a cracked pin in the jesus nut(rotor head in front) It and I think 44 other CH 46's had cracked pins like it, grounded all of them world wide until it was fixed.

[caligirl]

6. my comments from another similar thread on the ch 53 crash.

the 53 was from 1st Marine Division, thats out of Miramar in Southern



California. If it was a 53 echo, it has 3 engines, but a shot or mechanical problem with the tail rotor would cause it to crash. And it can carry 16 tons, 4-5 crew and 65 troops. So they weren't carrying a full load thank god.
My husband flew 46's and flew in squadrons with 53 pilots on cruise. A couple of his thoughts he asked me to share with you are that if its is a 53 involved, there were accidents with these in peace time that occurred often enough to bother most of us. Its old, even though the engines were updated years ago. They are huge and it isn't uncommon for them to crash from mechanical problems. Another thing that they may be doing is running the helos too much, to keep the accidents on the ground from road side bombs down. So helo mechanics are working too long and too hard, the pilots and crew chiefs are working too long and too hard and before you know it the inevitable happens. They over stretch manpower and resources and cause a crash like this. Just speculation though. Just thinking about all the bad press Rummy got for the lack of armor and stuff for the ground troops. He might have tried this.



But i am so sad today, I know that sit and wait and hope it isn't my husband feeling.One of our accidents was aired on a local radio station as it happened. The station had a view of the bay and they dj saw it go down. My husband had been scheduled to fly that Helo then, but someone went in his place. He got his helmet off just as they ewere taxing out to take off. You can get so freaked out. Those spouses are in my thoughts today.

[spanone]

7. Probably as much shit as they dish out. Unfortunately.

[Kota]

9. I just hope we aren't ignoring the need for better helicopters.

[caligirl]

10. That is what the OSPREY program was all about. The osprey or

tilt rotor was being tested in the 8o's and is still not off the ground in terms of replacing the ch 46. We thought it would happen years ago.
Its still not happening. Congress went for updating the 46 and 53 , now called CH 46 echo and CH 53 Echo, with new and more engines. the 53 now has 3 and the 46 has two. But it can't haul as much I hear because of the safety gear they have to carry now.

[anarchy1999]

12. Sand in the rotors doesn't mix well with oil. Simple mechanics.

You never know.

[caligirl]

13. during the first gulf war, on the first launch of 46's our friends took

part in, the rotors turned up and so did the sand, one crashed right then and there. everyone was blinded by it.

[theboss]

14. I dunno, choppers crash a lot.

At night in the desert...doesn't seem unusual. Same choppers crashed during the failed hostage rescue in Iran.