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UH-60 crash at Texas A&M

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You found this on a UK website? Here's the story from Austin (that's in Texas):


CENTRAL TEXAS
Helicopter crash on A&M campus kills 1, injures at least five

Black Hawk was based in Austin.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Tuesday, January 13, 2009

COLLEGE STATION — One person was killed and at least five others were injured when a Texas Army National Guard helicopter based in Austin crashed during takeoff Monday afternoon on the Texas A&M University campus.
All five people aboard the Army UH-60 Black Hawk were military personnel conducting a training exercise.
The helicopter was based at the Austin Army Aviation Support Facility at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said Col. Bill Meehan, a spokesman for the Texas Army National Guard. The soldiers were part of the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, whose headquarters is at Austin's Camp Mabry, Meehan said.
Two of the injured men were in critical condition, a hospital official said.
Meehan said the soldiers involved in Monday's crash were from Austin and San Antonio. No names were released Monday. The brigade has more than 3,000 soldiers based in Grand Prairie, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Meehan said.
Meehan said several helicoptershad been shuttling cadets to College Station from Camp Swift, a Texas Army National Guard training site north of Bastrop.
A crew of four from the Army National Guard and an Army lieutenant assigned to A&M's ROTC unit were aboard the Black Hawk, university spokesman Lane Stephenson said.
One student, a member of the A&M Corps of Cadets, was slightly injured by flying debris, Texas A&M said in a statement. The student was treated at a hospital and released.
The Black Hawk crashed about 3 p.m. Monday on Duncan Field near the Corps of Cadets quad, according to the university.
The helicopters were providing air transport services for 190 cadets attending the Corps' annual winter field training exercises at Camp Swift, Meehan said.
A&M's ROTC unit has conducted the exercises for more than 20 years, the university's Web site said.
Meehan said this is the first time a helicopter has crashed during the exercises.
Some cadets were still at Camp Swift on Monday night, Meehan said. The brigade will provide the students ground transport back to A&M, he said.
Scot Walker, publications manager for the A&M Association of Former Students, told The Bryan-College Station Eagle that he saw two helicopters lift off about 3:05 p.m.
The first one took off without trouble, but the second seemed to lose control and start spinning, Walker said.
"All of a sudden he dropped straight back down into the ground," Walker told the newspaper.
According to the A&M statement, a rudder failed during takeoff.
Students return for the spring semester next week.
"Our thoughts and prayers go to the crew members involved in this tragedy, and especially to the family and friends of the crew member who reportedly died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash," A&M President Elsa Murano said in a statement.
The UH-60 Black Hawk has been in use since 1979 as a tactical transport helicopter, according to the Army's Web site.
It can reach speeds of about 160 to 172 mph and has a crew of four, including two pilots, the Web site says. It can carry 2,640 pounds or 11 combat-equipped troops, according to the Web site.
Seven Fort Hood soldiers died in November 2004 when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed after clipping the wires of an unlighted television transmission tower south of Waco.
 
I think he posted due to the photos. I have seen lots of stories about this...but not with photos. I think that was the point...maybe not.

Tough to see....
 

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