The Army late Friday grounded most of its aviators till they full a brand new coaching program, acknowledging that two latest lethal helicopter crashes necessitate a renewed deal with security.
The stand-down order from Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville got here simply someday after three troopers had been killed and one other hospitalized after two Army AH-64 Apache helicopters collided whereas getting back from a coaching mission close to Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Last month, 9 troopers died after two Blackhawk helicopters collided throughout an Army coaching mission close to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Army officers mentioned there doesn’t look like a hyperlink between the 2. But they mentioned extra should be finished to forestall such incidents sooner or later.
“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,” Gen. McConville mentioned in an announcement. “During this stand-down, we will focus on safety and training protocols to ensure our pilots and crews have the knowledge, training and awareness to safely complete their assigned mission.”
The order grounds all Army aviators besides these collaborating in crucial missions. The aviators are required to finish a 24-hour stand-down between May 1 and May 5.
During that stand-down interval, the Army mentioned, aviators “will evaluation the danger approval/threat administration course of, aviation upkeep coaching program, aircrew coaching standardization and administration, and supervisory duty.
“They will also assess the flight-mission briefing process with an emphasis on risk mitigation, crew selection, flight planning, crew/flight briefings, debriefings and after-action reviews,” the Army mentioned in its assertion.
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