Deadly crashes ground US Army flights
Twelve soldiers have been killed in incidents over the last month, including a fatal episode earlier this week
"The US Army has ordered non-critical military flights to be grounded after lethal helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky. The Pentagon said all aviators, including active-duty troops, must undergo additional safety training.
The military branch announced the move on Friday, saying the order is effective immediately for all Army personnel excluding those “participating in critical missions.”
“The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel,” Army Chief of Staff James McConville said.
The ground stop was prompted by a string of recent mishaps involving Army aircraft. On Thursday, two AH-64 Apache helicopters crashed near Healy, Alaska following a training mission, leaving three soldiers dead and another wounded. The military has not yet determined the cause of the incident, but investigators were expected to arrive at the scene of the crash on Saturday.
Nine Army troops from the 101st Airborne Division were also killed in a separate training accident in Kentucky last month. During a nighttime mission, two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters collided in midair while flying in formation, leaving no survivors.
Yet another helicopter wreck took place in Alaska last February, also involving an Apache gunship, which resulted in injuries to soldiers and damage to the aircraft but no fatalities.
Though the lethal crashes are still under investigation, the Army said “there is no indication of any pattern between the two mishaps.”
To avoid incidents going forward, active duty troops are set to receive new safety training between May 1 and 5, while National Guard and Reserve members will have until May 31 to complete the course, according to Army spokesman Lt. Col. Terence Kelley."
RELATED Ground Self-Defense Force
Iron Fist 23: USAF and JGSDF conduct island seizure training
Photo By Yasuo Osakabe | A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force paratrooper assigned to the 1st Airborne Brigade... read more
Photo By Yasuo Osakabe | A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force paratrooper assigned to the 1st Airborne Brigade... read more
KIKAIJIMA ISLAND, KAGOSHIMA, JAPAN
03.03.2023
Story by Yasuo Osakabe
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
This event was part of Iron Fist 2023; a field training exercise (FTX) designed to increase interoperability and strengthen the relationship between the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, and the JGSDF. This iteration of Iron Fist allowed for additional integration of USAF and JASDF forces.
The scenario incorporated two USAF C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 36th AS from Yokota Air Base and a JASDF Kawasaki C-1 assigned to the 2nd TAG from Iruma Air Base. Each aircraft loaded and carried more than 100 JGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade paratroopers to a drop zone in Kikaijima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture.
“The purpose of the FTX is to simulate an island seizure,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Andrew Morris, 36th AS C-130J pilot. “The USAF flew alongside the JASDF, to drop the JGSDF paratroopers over the island while the U.S. Marine Corps executed a simultaneous amphibious assault onto the beachhead.”
This FTX allowed Yokota aircrews the opportunity to integrate more closely with Japanese allies and a practical application for taking an island by air, land, and sea.
“Our pilots and loadmasters work with joint partners in a training mission to integrate not only between aircraft, but also between countries to achieve the objective,” said Morris. “This clearly demonstrated the interoperability and the partnership that we have with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the mission was executed flawlessly.”
Iron Fist 23 was the first time this particular FTX was held in the Western Pacific, in an effort to materialize joint operations between Japan Self-Defense Forces and U.S. Forces by integrating airborne operations by 1st Airborne Brigade with bilateral amphibious operations.
“Combining our airborne and amphibious operations was the most distinctive event in this exercise,” said Maj. Gen. Junya Wakamatsu, JGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade commander. “Furthermore, I believe conducting our operations in Kikaijima for the first time, highlights the cooperative efforts made by Japan and the U.S. military.”
Unique to this FTX, bilateral forces dropped paratroopers into designated drop zones established across local farmland instead of military training areas, like most other airborne operations.
“This time, we are operating on an island in a sugar cane field,” said Morris. “The drop zone was surveyed just a few days ago. This technique simulates a real operation on a real island.”
Realistic experiences like this can help motivate and better train U.S. Airmen and JSDF members.
“Due to the current state of the world, when we conduct operations we do it together with our U.S. military allies,” said Wakamatsu. “Our jumpers anticipate that our airborne operations will be conducted on remote islands with the support of the 374th Airlift Wing more often. It is extremely critical to continue to maintain our capability and mission daily.”
Japan identifies 2 more officers from Black Hawk crash in East China Sea
STARS AND STRIPES April 27, 2023
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japan’s army has identified another two officers whose remains were recovered from the wreckage of a military helicopter that crashed into the East China Sea earlier this month with 10 aboard, including a division commander.
Maj. Akira Yamai, 47, and 2nd Lt. Keisuke Uchima, 27, both from the 8th Air Wing at Vice-Camp Takayubaru in Kumamoto prefecture, were among the five bodies recovered from the UH-60JA Black Hawk since April 16, a Japan Ministry of Defense statement said Tuesday.
Five of the six bodies found in a section of the fuselage have been recovered and identified. One body remains with the aircraft section found April 13 in 350 feet of water just offshore of Irabu Island, southwest of Okinawa.
Four people aboard the Black Hawk are unaccounted for.
Yamai and Uchima were piloting the aircraft when it crashed April 6 shortly after departing Miyako Airport, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Tuesday. A Ground Self-Defense Force spokeswoman on Thursday declined to confirm those details.
The Black Hawk was on a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport when it went down with Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s 8th Division, four members of the division’s headquarters staff, four members of the wing and Camp Miyako commander Col. Masahito Iyota aboard.
Sakamoto, 55, was appointed division commander less than a week before the crash. His body was identified on April 21, the same day Japan’s coast guard suspended around-the-clock search efforts.
The Self-Defense Force continued the search this week and navy divers are headed back to the wreck site, the spokeswoman said.
Offshore Engineering Co. of Tokyo has been hired to raise the aircraft section from the seabed, a Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman said Tuesday. Work could begin as soon as Saturday.
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