Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has expressed confidence in the U.S. military’s leadership in addressing safety issues related to the military’s aviation program following a series of deadly helicopter crashes, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. He said he had it.
The Pentagon’s comments come on the same day the National Guard issued an air safety standby order for all Army National Guard helicopter units following two helicopter crashes in Mississippi and Utah that killed two soldiers and injured two others. It was announced on .
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the secretary has “confidence in the service chiefs and secretaries and their leadership in addressing security concerns.”
The National Guard’s 54 state and territorial units are on a “safety alert” following the fatal Feb. 23 crash of a Mississippi National Guard AH-64D Apache helicopter and the Feb. 12 crash of a Utah National Guard Apache that left both men injured. “We will review our policies and procedures.” soldiers on the ship.
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The US military is grappling with a series of fatal crashes of Army Apache helicopters, raising concerns about the safety of its aviation program. (AP Photo/Ahn Young Jun/File)
“We are a combat force, and every day our helicopters train or fly missions around the world,” said Lt. Gen. John A. Jensen, Army National Guard chief. “Safety is always at the forefront of our minds. We do everything in our power to ensure that all of our crews are as ready as possible for what is called upon.”
At least 279 U.S. military non-combat aircraft crashes have killed at least 279 people since 2012, according to data reviewed by Fox News Digital. During the same period, there were a total of 179 aviation accidents involving the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Air National Guard.
The Air Force reported 56 incidents, followed by the Navy with 40, the Marines with 38, the Army with 23, and both branches of the National Guard with 23.
The Mississippi National Guard has identified the two service members who died last week as Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian Andrew Zemek, 36, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbott, 42. The two were killed when their Apache crashed in a rural area near Booneville, Mississippi. Officials said the plane was in a forested area during a routine training flight.
No pilots were killed in the Utah crash.
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Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian Andrew Zemek, 36, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbott, 42, died in a helicopter training crash last week. (Mississippi National Guard)
Brady Abbott, the widow of Derek Joshua Abbott, said her husband joined the National Guard in 2002 and “second to his children, he loved the Apaches.” Since the accident that killed her husband, Abbott has received daily updates from her investigators, she told Fox News Digital.
Asked if she thought the Pentagon could address the safety concerns plaguing the military’s aviation program, she said, “There’s no question about it.” “I agree, 100%.”
“He believed in the military and the government more than anyone I know,” Abbott said of her husband.
The Mississippi crash came after a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a routine training flight during a storm in the mountains outside San Diego on February 6, killing five Marines.crew Departing from Creech Air Force Base It crashed in Nevada while en route to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego.
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Bradford Moulton, uncle of Captain Benjamin Moulton, who died in the crash, told Fox & Friends that the plane should never have been allowed to take off during the rare winter storm.
“That’s something that I personally don’t understand. Having worked in the military for most of my career, I know that the military is always doing dangerous missions and always training, but this is very unpopular. It was a stable storm,” he said Monday. . “There were hurricane force winds. The helicopter was flying, but there was no defrost on the windshield. If the rotors froze, it would crash. We were flying at 5,400 feet. That’s the right thing to do.” A place where snow and rain mix. ”
Most recently, a UH-72 Lakota helicopter crashed in Alabama on Friday, causing two Army pilots to flee training with minor injuries.
Jensen did not say how long the National Guard would be on standby. In 2023, the Army grounded all helicopters after two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Kentucky, killing nine people, and two Apaches collided mid-air in Alaska.
Less than a month after that outage, it crashed during a training flight in Washington state, injuring two Army Apache pilots.
The identities of the five Marines killed in the CH-53E helicopter crash in Pine Valley, California, on February 6, 2024, have been identified. Donovan Davis, 21, left, of Olathe, Kansas, Sgt. Capt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Arizona; Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho; Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, New Hampshire; and Miguel of Traverse City, Michigan. – Captain Nava (28 years old). (U.S. Marine Corps / CalFIRE)
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In September 2023, the Marine Corps ordered an aviation safety shutdown after a stealth F-35 jet suffered an “accident” in South Carolina and the pilot ejected the aircraft.
Ryder said the military continues to prioritize safety despite the high number of aviation accidents.
He said: “Safety is something we are always concerned about and take seriously. You will see senior leaders in any service making safety their number one priority.”
