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Investigators looking into a series of fatal crashes involving UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters have found no material problems or common piloting errors, officials told Army Times.
A series of crashes involving the helicopters have claimed the lives of nine Guardsmen since December 2019. The crashes have involved the Idaho, Minnesota and New York Army Guards.
Including active-component units, there have been five Black Hawk crashes during that span, claiming the lives of 16 soldiers.
Lawmakers have asked the Army and others to investigate the crashes. But Brig. Gen. Andrew Hilmes, the Army’s safety director, told the publication that teams have yet to find anything that warrants grounding of the Black Hawk fleet.
“Each of these mishaps occurred under unique circumstances and we are looking at different causal factors in each,” he said.
Hilmes said the majority, about 86%, of aviation mishaps can be attributed to human error. While analyzing the recent crashes for trends, he said investigators have found no specific commonalities.
All three Guard crashes have involved L-model UH-60s. But another defense official, Brig. Gen. Michael McCurry, told Defense News there did not appear to be a systemic problem across the fleet.
McCurry is the Army’s G-3/5/7 aviation director. He said the three crashes did not point to systemic issues with operations or training.
As investigations are ongoing, he said officials would be on the look out for indication of any issues.
One change that has taken place, following the Minnesota Guard crash in 2019, is revised emergency procedures that reduces reliance on memorized emergency procedures and focuses on flying the aircraft and crew coordination.
The new methodology is expected to be implemented by all Army aviation units by May 2021.
