Military: Troops accounted for after crash(CH-53E crash update)

NAIROBI, Kenya - Rescue crews called off operations Saturday after the U.S. military said it has accounted for 10 American troops who went missing after two transport helicopters crashed into the sea but declined to reveal their fate until family members were notified.

The U.S. military normally publicly acknowledges any successful rescue of servicemen, as it did Friday in announcing that two injured crew members were recovered from the crash site.

In saying that the 10 previously missing crew members had been accounted for, the U.S. military command in Djibouti did not indicate they had been recovered alive.

"We are not giving additional details on the status or condition of the crew out of respect for the next-of-kin," said Maj. Susan Romano of the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

The CH-53E choppers, carrying a dozen crew and troops from the counterterrorism force, went down Friday in the Gulf of Aden, near the northern coastal town of Ras Siyyan.

The two rescued crew members were flown Saturday to the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southern Germany, Romano said. They were in stable condition.

The family of Susan Craig, a Marine pilot from Wisconsin, said she was one of those rescued. Craig, 28, telephoned her parents, Pat and Lewis Sackett of Fall Creek, Wis., on Saturday afternoon, her mother said in an interview with Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire.

Pat Sackett, who later confirmed her comments in an interview with The Associated Press, said her daughter was in Kuwait when she called and was headed to a hospital in Germany. Craig was rescued by Djiboutian military personnel, Sackett said.

"She's bruised and swollen, and her arms and legs got hurt, but no broken bones," she said. "We're so thankful for her life and so sad about the whole situation."

She said her daughter's husband, Steve Craig, also a Marine pilot but stationed in Iraq, realized something was wrong when he didn't get an e-mail from his wife after she should have returned from her flight.

"They had an inflatable around their neck that they inflated, and they hung onto a piece of the aircraft," she said. "It was three hours before they were rescued."

Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash, Romano said, adding that navy divers and aviation experts were on the scene and a large section of a CH-53E helicopter had been found.

Visibility had been good at the time of the crash, with light winds, authorities said.

The helicopters were on a nighttime training mission at the time of the crash. At the Pentagon, a spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, said Friday that there was no indication of hostile fire.

Members of the Djiboutian military who were near the impact site were able to rescue two injured crew members, according to the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, set up in the former French colony in June 2002, is responsible for fighting terrorism in nine countries in the region: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia in Africa and Yemen on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

The helicopters are part of the HMH 464 squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, N.C.

The CH-53E Super Stallion, valued at $26 million per aircraft, has been in service with the Marine Corps since 1981. Its main role is to transport heavy equipment and supplies during the ship-to-shore movement of an amphibious assault and during subsequent operations ashore. It is made by Sikorsky Aircraft and powered by three turboshaft engines.

The impoverished region, which is home to many Muslims, is a well-established recruiting ground for terrorist groups and U.S. officials describe it as a critical theater in the fight against terrorism.

The region has already suffered four terrorist attacks, all either claimed by - or attributed to - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. In August 1998, car bombs destroyed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; in October 2000 suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while it was refueling in Yemen; and in November 2002 attackers tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner minutes before a car bomb destroyed a hotel on Kenya's coast.

Officially confirmed now.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 19, 2006
Release #06-02-05
CJTF-HOA CH-53 CREWMEMBERS CONFIRMED DEAD
CAMP LEMONIER, DJIBOUTI, AFRICA – The Department of Defense confirmed the deaths
of 10 CH-53E crewmembers as a result of the crash that occurred off the coast of northern Djibouti
Friday.
Next-of-kin notifications have been made to all family members of the deceased; however,
names are being withheld in deference to family members’ privacy.
Of the 10 deceased crewmembers, eight were United States Marines and two were Air Force
Airmen.
“Our deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers go out to the family members, friends, loved
ones and co-workers of our fallen brothers- and sisters-in-arms,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy Ghormley,
Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa commanding general. “We mourn their loss and honor
their memory.”

All 12 Crewmembers 'Accounted For' After Crash Off Djibouti Coast

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2006 – All 12 crewmembers aboard two Marine CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters that crashed yesterday off the coast of Djibouti have been accounted for, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa officials reported in a statement issued today.

Citing ongoing family notifications, officials did not release any information regarding the crewmembers' status or condition.

Two crewmembers were rescued shortly after the crash and were taken to Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, where one underwent knee surgery. The second crewmember suffered muscular and skeletal bruising, no fractures, and may have inhaled contaminated sea water, officials said. Both were listed in stable condition, and were to be transported to the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany today.

Officials said search and rescue operations have been "curtailed," but that recovery efforts continue for pertinent information, equipment and wreckage to aid the investigation board that will determine the cause of the crash.

The helicopters were part of the HMH 464 squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, an active duty unit in Jacksonville, N.C. The helicopters were flying a two-hour training mission in the Godoria Range area in northern Djibouti. The weather at the time of the crash was reported to be partly cloudy, about 80 degrees, with light to variable winds and unlimited visibility, officials said

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2006/20060218_4249.html

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