Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Twelve killed in Nellis helicopter crash

When combat search and rescue crews at Nellis Air Force Base are sent to disasters locally or as far away as the Middle East the danger is very real that neither they nor those they set out to rescue will return.

That message hit home hard today when 12 airmen died after two Nellis-based HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters crashed 25 miles north of Indian Springs just west of Quartz Peak in the Pintwater Mountain Range.

It was sadly ironic that members of Nellis's 66th Rescue Squadron had logged more than 1,600 flight hours and 850 sorties in volatile Southwest Asia since 1993, without a major incident. Yet, in their own backyard, on what Air Force officials called a routine night exercise, the two helicopters each carrying six crewmen were lost.

"It is with regret that I can tell you we have not located any survivors," Brig. Gen. Theodore "Bill" Lay, 57th Wing commander at Nellis, said today.

"We extend our condolences to the families of these brave airmen we lost. It serves to remind us of the dangers (associated with such work)."

How the crash occurred remains the fodder for conjecture as military officials will sift through the wreckage in the rugged, mountainous terrain looking for clues.

Lay said efforts will be made to learn all that is possible about the crash so that potential future mishaps can be prevented. He declined to speculate on whether the two helicopters collided or how else the accident may have occurred.

Susan Robinson, spokeswoman for the base's family services, said medical officials, chaplains and other support personnel had been assigned to provide "spiritual assistance" to the families of the dead airmen.

The names of the dead are being held pending notification of relatives of all of the victims, Nellis officials said.

It was not immediately known whether the dead were all males. Base officials confirmed that the 66th Rescue Squadron has at least one female pilot, but officials would not say whether she was on that mission.

The helicopters were deployed for the training exercises at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and were due back by 12:30 a.m. today.

At 1 a.m., they were reported overdue, Lay said, noting that the weather conditions at the time included light rain and light overcast skies at 7,000-9,000 feet.

The plane went down in a military restricted area on the Nellis Air Force Base Range that is about 6,400 feet above sea level and covered with rocks, desert scrub and small pine trees.

Lay noted that search and rescue and emergency forces from the Air Force, Bureau of Land Management, Lincoln County, Indian Springs and the Department of Energy assisted Nellis in the search. The wreckage was located in the pre-dawn hours.

Although the 66th Rescue Squadron had been participating in on-going Red Flag exercises at the base, the Thursday night mock rescue mission was not part of that program.

The goal of the ill-fated mission was to simulate the rescue of a survivor on the ground, Lay said, noting that such night exercises were common.

The helicopters also carried live ammunition. This also is a common practice, Lay said.

The pilots were wearing night goggles, Lay said.

Pavehawks, which have seen action in the Persian Gulf and have provided evacuation coverage for U.S. Navy Seals operations, are 64 feet, 8 inches in length and 16 feet, 8 inches in height and have a top speed of 184 mph. They cost $10.1 million apiece.

The 66th Rescue Squadron was originally formed on Nov. 14, 1952, at Royal Air Force Base, Manston, England, and was deactivated about six years later. It was reactivated at Nellis on March 1, 1991.

The unit's initial deployment on Jan. 25, 1993, marked the first time a combat rescue squadron was mobilized since the Vietnam War.

The 66th Rescue Squadron has since participated in rescue operations and exercises around the world, including Southwest Asia and high-altitude snow operation deployments in Utah.

The squadron also has assisted in numerous local civilian rescues -- on average, about a half-dozen per year.

In 1996, the 66th Rescue Squadron won the Secretary of Defense Small Maintenance Award and the Jolly Green Rescue Award.

The helicopters that crashed today were part of a 14-unit fleet at Nellis -- one of only two such squadrons in the nation.

A typical crew for the HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter includes the pilot, copilot, flight engineer, a gunner and two rescuers, who are trained as paramedics, scuba divers, parachutists, mountain climbers and survivalists. The aircraft also can carry eight-to-10 troops.

The Pavehawk is a twin-engine medium-lift helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

Pavehawks are equipped with all-weather radar that enables the crew to avoid inclement weather. They also have rotor blade anti-ice systems for all weather operations.

They also are equipped with a rescue hoist with a 200-foot cable and 600-pound lift capacity. External loads can be carried on an 8,000-pound capacity cargo hook. The craft have non-retractable landing gear.

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