Fri, Mar 21, 2003
War Is Hell -- Even Without Being Shot At...
Scratch two helos (only one, permanently) from the
roster of military aircraft taking on the Iraqis in our second Gulf
War with that rogue nation. However; the Iraqis get no bragging
rights in either case.
In the height of a complex and tightly run series of initial
actions against the Iraqi military, two helos have gone down due to
mechanical issues. Thankfully; none of the six personnel
aboard an MH-53 "Pave Low" Special Operations helicopter or the
crew members of an AH-64 "Apache" attack helicopter were injured in
either incident... the first occurring Wednesday night and the
other Thursday morning.
Damaged in "hard landing" incidents, the MH-53 was ordered
destroyed by US forces in order to keep this technologically
sophisticated aircraft out of enemy hands... though one military
wag e-mailed ANN this morning and noted that anything more complex
than a sling-shot was technologically sophisticated as far as the
Iraqi military was concerned (grin).
Of course; the Iraqi military claimed credit for downing the
Pave Low, but our sources indicate that the bird simply got
clobbered in a hard landing and was unable to be flown out... so it
was destroyed.
The MH-53 accident occurred in southern Iraq and was reportedly
the first known loss of an American aircraft in the second war
against Iraq--though we're told that it occurred BEFORE the start
of surgical military strikes late Wednesday night.
The
AH-64 Apache "hard landing" took place in Northern Kuwait Thursday.
The landing was reportedly due to a mechanical issue that
complicated the approach and landing, and resulted in minimal
damage to the airframe.
The bird was later returned to service.
The US military strongly denies that either aircraft was hit by
any enemy ground fire.
More News
Terminal Radar Service Area Airspace surrounding designated airports wherein ATC provides radar vectoring, sequencing, and separation on a full-time basis for all IFR and participa>[...]
Very High Frequency (VHF) The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/grou>[...]
“From approximately November 2021 through January 2022, Britton-Harr, acting on behalf of AeroVanti, entered into lease-purchase agreements for five Piaggio-manufactured airc>[...]
Also: Virtual FLRAA Prototype, IFR-Capable Autonomous A/C, NS-32 Crew, Golden Dome Missile Defense Bombardier announced that the first production Global 8000 successfully completed>[...]
Aero Linx: The 1-26 Association (Schweizer) The Association’s goal is to foster the helpfulness, the camaraderie, and the opportunity for head-to-head competition that is fou>[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.29.25): Terminal Radar Service Area
See All