Thank the MSM. I'm not being snarky. Thank the MSM. News editors saw this story for what it was, and gave it prominent play. The Associated Press called it:
An aviation training accident that killed seven Marines -- one of the Corps' deadliest aviation training accidents in years -- left the military community shaken and was a solemn reminder that preparing for war poses some of the same risks as the real thing.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine why the helicopters crashed. The crash most likely will have evaporated from the national mindset by the time the results come in. For now, though, the MSM has persuaded Mainstream America to care to the point of typing in the search terms.
Update: J.K. Rowling's new book has edged out other search terms. Within an hour's time, the helicopter crash dropped to number 13.
5 comments:
One of the helicopters was carrying missiles, he [Gunnery Sergeant Dustin Dunk] said, but he did not know which one.
It was the Cobra, obviously.
"As far as exactly what the exercise was, what they were trying to accomplish with it, I'm not sure," Dunk said.
It was an area familiarization mission -- again, obviously -- and probably NVG currency training, since they were flying with an IP based at Yuma.
Weather was not a factor in the accident, Dunk said.
Moon illumination *was* a factor. The flight was being conducted under below-minimum illumination conditions.
The Yuma-based crash victim was part of the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron, considered the most elite group of pilots in the Corps, Dunk said. He said he was unsure why the pilot would have been training with Marines from Camp Pendleton, but he said it was unusual.
There was nothing unusual about it. A visiting unit invariably gets its local area orientation from a pilot based at that station, particularly if the visiting crew has never been to that locale.
One of the "findings" will be Pilot Error, but the *reason* one aircraft flew into the other will probably remain buried in the Accident Investigation findings, which may never be released to the public. I have a hunch why it happened -- whether it's correct depends on which pilot (left seat or right seat) was flying the Huey just prior to the collision.
The AR reporter also misspelled Bill Malo's name...
The 21st was the new moon, which means the sky would have been nearly pitch black, except for stars, on the 22nd. Perhaps this was why they chose that night to train on NVGs, no?
As for that hunch... perhaps you would be so kind as to illuminate us? Please?
NVGs amplify ambient light -- when there's minimal ambient light, it's almost as bad as flying with no goggles at all. Whenever we flew with less than 12% ambient illum, it was considered an Extreme High Risk mission, and we had to take additional steps to mitigate the risk -- like having a highly-experienced, senior IP on the mission.
Aircraft NVG nav lights aren't visible from all aspects of another aircraft -- and in a Cobra, you can't see anything in front of you that's more than 40 degrees below your nose. NVG lights on an aircraft flying near you can also blend with the lights from other sources at a greater distance, and there were other aircraft in the vicinity.
And you have no depth perception with goggles. Flying safely depends on a host of other visual cues.
I'm no longer an active Safety Officer, but I'm still oath-bound -- I'd have to research what has and hasn't been publicly-released before I can comment on specifics, but I *can* say that aircraft cockpit design is a major factor in flying NVGs. Crews have to compensate for structural features that limit visibility from each seat.
very sad...
I have friends who fly Cobras and it makes it that much hard for me to read these stories
The explanation-exploration should be a post on its own.
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