Army Helicopter Goes Down in Italy

MSNBC ^

[SoldierMedic]

ROME, Italy - A U.S. Army helicopter crashed in northern Italy on Thursday and five people were believed to have been killed, two Italian news agencies reported.

Senior Airman Justin Weaver, a spokesman at the U.S. Air Force base in Aviano, near Venice, said he had no confirmation on the number of deaths but that the chopper involved was a UH-60 Black Hawk Army helicopter that had taken off from Aviano.

[SoldierMedic]

173rd Airborne is in Italy.

[SoldierMedic]

[ishabibble]

How terrible. Prayers for all aboard and for their families.

[Red6]

There were more than five on board. I pray they make it.

I never liked flying in helicopters, and I love to fly!

Low to the ground, constant torque on the airframe, everything spinning in circles, massive and constant vibration, mechanically complex = trouble.

Things that take off and land vertical tend to fall from the sky more frequently than their fixed wing counterparts.

[RDTF]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1922730/posts

[StarCMC]

Shoot. We just had a thread in the Canteen on Monday about the Sky Soldiers. God be with them.

[StarCMC]

Ping.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Prayers for the victims.

[CitizenM]

Prayers going up for those who were downed. We can’t honor these people enough for their dedication and courage.

[concretebob]

Helicopter:
10,000 moving parts flying in close formation.

Prayers for the families of the lost.
Prayers for the surviviors

[SoldierMedic]

The latest news:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_helicopter_071108/

A U.S. soldier died overnight in a northern Italian hospital, bringing to six the number killed in the crash of an Army helicopter, officials said Friday.

Eleven U.S. service members were onboard the UH-60 Army Black Hawk helicopter that went down Thursday near the city of Treviso, U.S. Army Europe said in a statement released by its headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. The helicopter was attached to the 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment.

[RDTF]

this is so awful. Thanks for the update.

[SoldierMedic]

No problem.

[SoldierMedic]

I hope it wasn’t a DUSTOFF chopper. Charlie 1st Bat is going to be going to Iraq soon as a DUSTOFF. They’re in Germany, but it wouldn’t seem odd for another Av company in the same Battalion to train for the same mission.

I looked again at the Army Times photo of the crash, and that stupid jeep is in the way, so I can’t tell if there is a cross on the side or not.

[StarCMC]

 

The Mansions of the Lord
Click the picture for music

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
To the Mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.