Nine lost in two days

Seven U.S. service members killed in Iraq helicopter crash
NBC News
by COURTNEY KUBE, RICHARD ENGEL and PHIL HELSEL
March 16, 2018

All seven service members aboard an American military helicopter that crashed in western Iraq late Thursday were killed, according to two U.S. military officials.

The crash of the U.S. HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter does not appear to be a result of enemy activity and the incident is under investigation, U.S. Central Command and military officials said.

"All personnel aboard were killed in the crash," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, the director of operations for the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq and Syria.
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2 FDNY Firefighters Among 7 Killed in U.S. Helicopter Crash in Iraq, Sources Say

An FDNY lieutenant and an FDNY fire marshal were among the seven service members killed when their U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, the FDNY announced Friday evening.

The department identified Lt. Christopher Raguso and Fire Marshal Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis as the 1,148th and 1,149th members of the FDNY to die in the line of duty. read more here

Navy identifies aviators killed in Florida Super Hornet crash
STARS AND STRIPES
By KAT BOUZA
Published: March 16, 2018

The Navy has identified the two pilots killed when their F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the sea near Key West, Fla., Wednesday afternoon.

Lt. Cmdr. James Brice Johnson and Lt. Caleb Nathaniel King — both assigned to the “Blacklions” of Strike Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana — died after the aircraft went down on final approach to Naval Air Station Key West at about 4:30 p.m. The squadron was conducting training in the area at the time.
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UPDATE

Master Sgt. William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Fla

Staff Sgt. Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee

Capt. Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo

Capt. Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, N.Y.

Capt. Christopher T. Zanetis, 37, of Long Island City, N.Y.

Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, N.Y.

Staff Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

Marine Corps Aviation Deaths 5 Year High

Marine aviation deaths hit 5-year high
Marine Corps Times
By James K. Sanborn, Staff writer
September 6, 2015

The Marine Corps suffered its biggest loss of life this year in a single aviation accident when 11 troops, including seven members of Marine Corps Special Forces Operations Command, were killed when their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Florida during a training exercise.

Firefighters in Imperial, Calif., work to extinguish the blaze caused by the crash of an AV-8B Harrier from Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., in June 2014. There have already been 18 Marine fatalities resulting from aviation mishaps in 2015, a five-year high. (Photo: Chelcey Adami/AP)

A fatal helicopter crash in North Carolina this week brought the total number of Marine aviation-related deaths to 18 so far this year — already a five-year high just nine months into 2015.

A CH-53E Super Stallion made a hard landing at Stone Bay near Camp Lejeune on Wednesday. Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lewis, one of about 20 Marines conducting a fast-roping exercise, was killed. Eleven other Marines were injured. Lewis was based out of Norfolk, Virginia, and was training to deploy with a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team.

The Sept. 2 incident, which remains under investigation, was one of at least 13 since May 2014 that resulted in death, injury or significant property damage. Five aircraft mishaps have left at least 18 Marines dead in 2015 — up 15 compared to the 2014 total. The last spike in aviation-related deaths occurred in 2012, when 15 Marines were killed in aircraft mishaps.

Marine officials say they're committed to aircraft safety, but "by its very nature, there will always be inherent risk in military aviation," said Maj. Paul Greenberg a Marine aviation spokesman at the Pentagon.
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Soldiers and Marines Missing After Army Helicopter Crash in Florida

From NBC


UPDATE
U.S. military helicopter crashes off northwest Florida; human remains found
CNN
By Greg Botelho
March 11, 2015

Story highlights
The four National Guard members' next of kin have been notified, spokesman says
Four aircrew members, seven Marines were on board the helicopter when it went down

(CNN)Seven Marines and four Army aircrew were presumed dead Wednesday, according to a U.S. Defense official, after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed into waters off the Florida Panhandle during a nighttime training mission.

By late Wednesday morning, human remains had washed ashore in the area near Eglin Air Force Base, base spokeswoman Jasmine Porterfield said.

She didn't specify what was found, noting a search-and-rescue mission remained underway. Still, there was little hope for a miracle, with Gen. Martin Dempsey -- the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, making him the U.S. military's highest-ranking member -- expressing his condolences "at the loss of the folks on that helicopter."

"(The crash is) a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk, both in training and in combat," Dempsey said from Washington. "We will work with the services to ensure that ... their family members will be well cared for."
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Army Helicopter Crashes in Florida: 7 Marines, 4 Soldiers Missing
ABC News
BY CASSANDRA VINOGRAD
24 minutes ago

Seven Marines and four soldiers were missing early Wednesday following an Army helicopter crash in Florida, officials said.

A search and rescue operation was launched after one of two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters participating in a routine nighttime training mission crashed, Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Andy Bourland said.

Bourland said it was too soon to say what caused the crash, but that there were "weather issues" overnight.

"This is search and rescue," he stressed, adding that visibility was limited due to darkness and fog. "We have not declared the status of the 11 personnel on board at the time."

Search and rescue teams have located some debris which began to collect in the search area, Bourland added.
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Helicopter crashes on Fort Benning, 2 Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed

Helicopter crashes on Fort Benning, two aviators killed
WTVM News

FORT BENNING, GA (WXTX) – Public affairs officials confirm two Special Operations Aviation soldiers died in a helicopter training accident at Fort Benning.

The accident happened Monday afternoon around 4:15 p.m. on a live-fire range at Fort Benning.

We are told the aviators were assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

They died after their AH-6M Little Bird helicopter crashed while conducting routine military training involving Ranger and other special operations personnel.
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Fort Bragg soldier killed, 3 injured in Chinook crash

Bragg soldier killed, 3 injured in Chinook crash
Army Times
Staff Report
May. 5, 2014

A soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division’s combat aviation brigade was killed and three others injured in a helicopter accident Saturday, the Army announced Monday.

Sgt. Dwight Burn, 27, of Barstow, California, died from his injuries when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, on which he was a crew member, crashed about 8:15 p.m. at the northern training area near Orogrande, New Mexico.

The soldiers, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were conducting high altitude mountainous environment training at Fort Bliss, Texas.
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Navy Helicopter Crash produces three different headlines

UPDATE
Divers recover body of missing pilot

This is from CNN

2 dead, 2 rescued, 1 missing in Navy helicopter crash off frigid Virginia
By Greg Botelho and Tom Watkins
CNN
updated 8:03 PM EST, Wed January 8, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Another Navy sailor dies, bringing the death toll to 2, the Navy says
NEW: The search continues for a missing sailor
4 were hoisted to safety within an hour of accident, including 2 who would die
The crash happened in the late morning about 20 miles off the southern Virginia coast

(CNN) -- Two sailors have died after the Navy helicopter they were in crashed Wednesday off the southern Virginia coast, the Navy said.

The Coast Guard, Virginia Beach Fire Department and Navy continued Wednesday night to search for another sailor who'd been aboard the fallen aircraft. Two sailors who had been rescued were in stable condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, the Navy said in a statement.

"Today has been a tough day for all of us," said Capt. Todd Flannery, commander of the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic, based in Norfolk, Virginia.

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2 dead and 2 rescued plus 1 missing

This is from NBC

Updated
Just now
Two crewmen dead after Navy helicopter goes down off Va.; one missing
By Elizabeth Chuck, Courtney Kube and Jim Miklaszewski
NBC News

Two crew members died and another is missing after a U.S. Navy helicopter made an emergency water landing off the coast of Virginia on Wednesday, the Navy said.

The helicopter, a MH-53E Sea Dragon, was carrying five crew members when it went down in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday morning off the coast of Norfolk. Four crew members had been rescued from the water, the Navy initially said, but two of the four rescued were confirmed as dead later on Wednesday.

A search-and-rescue operation was under way for the fifth crew member. The two surviving rescued crew members were being evaluated at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
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2 dead 1 missing no resuces

And this is from FOX

2 dead after Navy helicopter crashes near Virginia coast
Published January 08, 2014
FoxNews.com

Two crewmen have died, the Navy says, after one of its helicopters crashed during a training mission off the coast of Virginia Wednesday.

The Navy said in a statement that an MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter had gone into the waters off Virginia Beach near Fort Story.

Four crew members were pulled from the ocean after the crash, but two later died at a nearby hospital. The identity of the dead crewmen will not be released until 24 hours after families have been notified, according to The Associated Press.

The extent of their injuries and the identities of the other crewmen were not known, the Navy said. The accident is under investigation while a search and rescue operation is underway for a fifth missing crew member.
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2 dead and no missing

Widow Fights for Life and VA Benefits (Video)

If you knew Jeffrey Jones in Vietnam contact the station and back up his widow's claim.

Fort Sill Oklahoma, and he was a helicopter pilot.

Widow Fights for Life and VA Benefits (Video)
Arkansas Matters
Jocelyn Tovar
01/01/2014

21 injured when US helo makes hard landing in South Korea

21 injured when US helo makes hard landing in South Korea
By Jon Rabiroff , Ashley Rowland , Yoo Kyong Chang
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 16, 2013

SEOUL — Twenty-one U.S. servicemembers were injured when a U.S. military helicopter made a “hard landing” Tuesday near the Demilitarized Zone during exercises with South Korea.

Fifteen were treated at the Yongsan Garrison hospital in Seoul and released. The other six were still there late Tuesday afternoon in stable condition, officials said.

The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter was conducting routine flight operations in support of exercise Ssang Yong — a Korean Marine Exchange Program linked to the ongoing Foal Eagle exercise — with a crew of five from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan, when it went down hard near the Jipo-ri Range near the border-area town of Cheolwon around 1 p.m., a U.S. Forces Korea statement said.
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Fallen soldier, Zack Shannon, honored by friends, strangers

Fallen soldier, Zack Shannon, honored by friends, strangers
Mar 25, 2013
Ashley Porter
WTSP.com

Dunedin, Florida-- From Tampa to Dunedin, crowds lined the streets with flags, signs, and sadness for a fallen soldier.

The reason behind their determination, waiting hours for the motorcade of Army Spc. Zack Shannon, could be summed up by the words of six-year-old Jacob Rooks: "Zack died for our freedom."

From the intersections of Clearwater to the sidewalks in front of Dunedin High School, one word resonated: hero.

Shannon was killed on March 11 in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He was the first graduate of Dunedin High School and its JROTC program to ever be killed in action.

"Zack made a difference," says Commander Rick Schock, who taught Zack at Dunedin High School. "Zack was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was unfortunately killed in action. He wanted to fly helicopters, he wanted to be in the Army and when I last saw him, he was very, very happy."
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Final escort of Dunedin soldier comes through Tampa today
Times Staff
Monday, March 25, 2013
Go there for wonderful video.

Helo with 4 troops aboard crashes in southwestern Afghanistan

Helo with 4 troops aboard crashes in southwestern Afghanistan
By Robert Burns -
The Associated Press

Posted : Thursday Apr 19, 2012
WASHINGTON — An American military helicopter has crashed in southwestern Afghanistan with four U.S. troops aboard, a U.S. defense official said Thursday.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is under investigation, said it could not be ruled out that the Black Hawk helicopter was taken down by enemy fire, but early indications were that weather may have been a factor. read more here

31 Special Operation Soliders killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash

UPDATE 8/6/11

U.S. official: Killed forces were reinforcing troops in Afghanistan
By David Ariosto and Barbara Starr, CNN
August 6, 2011 -- Updated 2224

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Helicopter was on a reinforcement mission, U.S. military official says
22 of the dead are U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. officials say
A majority belonged to the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden
7 Afghans died in the incident, President Karzai says

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In the single deadliest loss for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001, 30 service members died early Saturday when a helicopter carrying them went down while they were reinforcing other troops, officials said.

Insurgents are believed to have shot down the CH-47 Chinook, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Among the 25 U.S. special operations forces killed in Wardak province were 22 Navy SEALS, considered to be the "best of the best." Seven Afghan troops also died.
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Killed forces were reinforcing troops in Afghanistan

UPDATE from CNN
U.S. official: about two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash
By David Ariosto and Barbara Starr, CNN
August 6, 2011
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Most of the dead are U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. officials say
Obama and others express their condolences
A U.S. military official identified the helicopter as a CH-47 Chinook
A Taliban spokesman says insurgents shot down the helicopter in a rocket attack.
7 Afghans died in the crash, his office said

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Most of those killed when a Chinook helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan overnight were U.S. Navy SEALs, two U.S. government officials said.
"It's a big loss" for the SEALs," one of the officials said. The numbers are high."
"It is believed that about two dozen Special Operations Forces, including some from other services, were on board the aircraft, in addition to the Army crew flying the craft."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement saying as many as 31 U.S. special forces and seven Afghans were killed.
About two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash

31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan
By SOLOMON MOORE
08/ 6/11
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on Saturday. It was the highest number of casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.

President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.

"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."

NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said the alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site and investigating the cause of the crash, but did not release details or a casualty figure. The coalition said there "was enemy activity in the area."
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31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash

11 U.S. troops injured in helicopter crash

11 U.S. troops injured in helicopter crash

By Michael Hoffman - mhoffman@militarytimes.com
Posted : Tuesday Mar 30, 2010 15:21:51 EDT

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — An Army helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from a forward operating base in Zabul province, injuring 11 U.S. and two Afghan soldiers. No one died and all the troops reported their injuries as minor.

The UH-60 Blackhawk sustained heavy damage in the March 29 accident, not far from Forward Operating Base Atgar, said Sgt. Shannon Wright, an 82nd Combat Aviaition Brigade spokesman. Rescue forces flew the wounded to Forward Operating Base Lagman for treatment.
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11 US troops injured in helicopter crash

Black Hawk crash in Colorado Mountain leaves two dead

2 dead in Black Hawk crash on Colo. mountain

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 19, 2009 21:35:54 EDT

LEADVILLE, Colo. — A military helicopter crashed Wednesday near the peak of Colorado's second-highest mountain, killing two people, injuring one and leaving the only other person aboard missing, authorities said.

The Black Hawk helicopter from Kentucky's Fort Campbell was carrying out training exercises when it struck near the top of 14,200-feet tall Mount Massive near Leadville, according to the Lake County Sheriff's office and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The injured person was flown to a Denver hospital, while rescue teams searched for the only other person aboard, said Sheriff spokesman Max Duarte. The condition of the injured person was not immediately known.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_helo_crash_081909/

UPDATE to this story
Army: All 4 soldiers in helo crash died