Consecutive Incidents Raise Congressional Concerns

A U.S. Navy helicopter has gone down only 34-miles from the site of an 08 June U.S. Marines Corps V-22 Osprey accident that killed five. 

All four crew-members aboard the MH-60S Seahawk survived the crash and have been safely recovered—a U.S. Navy statement asserts. 

The incident—one of several recent mishaps involving U.S. military aircraft—has raised Congressional concerns about the safety of military aviation. 

Since the the beginning of 2022, the U.S. military—in addition to the [08 June] Osprey and [09 June] Seahawk accidents—has has seen losses of an F/A-18E Super Hornet [03 June], an AH-64 Apache [06 June], and another MV-22B Osprey [18 March].

Compelled by this series of incidents and accidents, the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness proposed an annual reporting requirement for the Joint Safety Council and new processes to implement accident investigation recommendations as part of oversight meant to address preventable training accidents.  

The lost Seahawk was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3, based at Naval Air Station North Island, California. The crew was reportedly conducting a routine training flight, which had originated from Naval Air Facility El Centro.

A representative of the Imperial County [CA] Fire Department stated that firefighters were called at 5:43 p.m. to Highway 78 near Palo Verde for a report of a military aircraft down. Military personnel were also responding to the scene, the unnamed representative said.

CMDR Zach Harrell, a Naval Air Forces public affairs officer, said in a statement, “I can confirm that a U.S. Navy helicopter crashed today on a U.S. Navy training range near El Centro, CA; according to our initial reports, all four of the air crew on board survived the crash.”

FMI: www.navy.mil, www.marines.mil