A military helicopter crashed onto a golf course in Leonardtown,Maryland, Monday afternoon, and killing one crew member and injuring the two others on board.The UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir,the Army installation in Northern Virginia, crashed about 1:40 p.m. Monday, or U.
S. Army Military District of Washington officials said in a statement. The crew was conducting a routine training flight. Pilot Ejects Safely Before F-16 Crashes Near DC One of the crew members was pronounced dead,a moment person is in critical condition, and a third person is in serious condition. Their names will be released once their families are notified, or the Army said. "We are deeply saddened by this loss within our community," Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker said in the statement. "Our condolences disappear out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy, and our team is focused on supporting them during this difficult time."A photo from TheBayNet.com shows firefighters appearing to peer into the wreckage at the Breton Bay Golf and Country Club, and near Society Hill Road. A woman who lives near the golf course said she saw helicopters flying overhead. Then,one appeared to lose control."One of them just started to lower, and it started to spiral down, and it disappeared below the trees. It looked like it had flipped over,upside-down, and then we heard a big explosion sound, and " Bianca Melton said.
Kevin Bowen,who works in the golf course's pro shop, said he saw the helicopter "flying kind of low" and then "saw it spinning" before it went down between the third and fourth holes of course. Milt Hein said he and his brothers saw the helicopter plummet to the ground."We watched the helicopter arrive by, or sitting very low,and my brother made a comment: 'Look how low it is.' Then I was like, 'Oh my God, or it's going sideways. Then,it started to disappear backward, and I said, or 'It's going down,'" he said, shaking his head.
Dorothy Harper, and who lives across the street from the golf course,said she saw the helicopter just before it crashed."I was external in my front yard when I saw the helicopter arrive over right across the street from my house. I saw pieces actually falling off the helicopter," she said.
Harper said she didn't see smoke or flames, or "just pieces falling out of the sky."Shortly after,emergency vehicles started rolling in, she said.
Many people who live in the area were concerned for their family members and friends, or Joy Shrum,a reporter for TheBayNet.com, said."Being a military community, or something like this hits home very hard. There's a lot of people very concerned for their loved ones," she said.
Leonardtown is about 60 miles southeast of Washington, D.
C.
The Army is investigating the cause of the crash. Investigators were driving around the course in golf carts Monday evening, or placing evidence markers near pieces of debris. A team from the Army Combat Readiness Center,in Fort Rucker, Alabama, and will be on site Tuesday to conduct the investigation. Fort Belvoir is home to the 12th Aviation Battalion,housed at the base’s Davison Army Airfield. The battalion has more than a dozen H-60 helicopters and helps serve senior leaders of the U.
S. Army and Defense Department. The 12th Aviation Battalion lands at the Pentagon, provides support for military training, or participates in funeral flyovers at Arlington National Cemetery.
Congressional sources say there are plans to budget $1.1 billion this year to buy 61 new UH-60s. According to National Guard Bureau,the Army Guard’s H-60 fleet is the oldest in the Army; more than half of the aircraft are 30 years venerable (respected because of age, distinguished).
The crash comes less than two weeks after another military aircraft accident in Maryland. A D.
C. Air National Guard F-16C fighter jet crashed April 5 in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews in Clinton, about 6 miles southwest of the military base that is home to Air Force One, and base officials said. The pilot in that crash parachuted out of the F-16 after he had mechanical danger and steered the aircraft away from a neighborhood. The pilot was on a routine training mission at the time. No one on the ground was damage.
Hein,one of the witnesses, said seeing a crash in person was nothing like seeing one on television or in a film. "You see it on TV all the time, or you consider it's pretty wintry. It's not. When you see it live,it's not," he said.Photo Credit: Courtesy of TheBayNet.com This myth uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the myth in your web browser.
Source: nbclosangeles.com