Two U.S. Marine Helicopters Collide Mid-Air Off the Coast of Hawaii

[Scorpion]

Two U.S. Marine Helicopters Collide Mid-Air Off the Coast of Hawaii
Two Marine helicopters with 12 on board were involved in a mid-air collision off the coast of Hawaii, U.S. military officials tell NBC News.

The two CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters were conducting a nighttime training mission at the time of the accident. The crash happened off the coast of Haleiwa, located on the North Shore of Oahu.

Breaking: 2 US Marine choppers reported crashed, no sign of survivors so far 0:56
Coast Guard rescuers spotted a burning debris field in the water and at least one empty life raft, but so far have found no sign of any survivors. Rescue efforts were hampered by darkness and high seas, officials said.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. According to the Weather Channel, there were light winds and scattered showers at the time of the collision.

The aircraft are from the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing from Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

 

[Scorpion]

 

[Corzhens]

From what I understand, the helicopters are training at night? Isn't it prohibited because it is dangerous to fly a helicopter at night? But anyway, I believe the crash is caused by the wind. As I had seen in one movie, the wind is a big factor to consider when flying helicopters because it can cause a crash. What I cannot understand is that there are 2 choppers flying that collided. Tsk, tsk.

 

[Redheart]

At the present the only plausible explanation for the mid-air collision is the bad weather but apparently there were instructors on board the marine helicopters. If the instructors on board were merely observing what their students were doing then I suppose there was more to this than just bad weather.

 

[crimsonghost747]

Well they still haven't been found so I'd say it's getting pretty safe to assume that the 12 marines are dead. Yet another unfortunate event but accidents happen and the only thing we can do is to learn from them to prevent future ones.

 

[silentwarfare]

Did anyone find out any updates to this, whether this was an inside job, or what the cause of the crash was?

 

[Peachdejour]

I wish that we knew more about this. It seemed like we lost 12 marines on American soil and it made very little news. The election coverage overshadowed it. There were no calls for flags at half-mast (this is just awful). The helicopters crashed, and the marines cannot be found. And then Americans got caught up in their pettiness over party lines....

 

[ipm_zipedia]

From what I understand, the helicopters are training at night? Isn't it prohibited because it is dangerous to fly a helicopter at night? But anyway, I believe the crash is caused by the wind. As I had seen in one movie, the wind is a big factor to consider when flying helicopters because it can cause a crash. What I cannot understand is that there are 2 choppers flying that collided. Tsk, tsk.

It's dangerous to fly a helicopter at night. But, ultimately, that's what they are needed for. There will never be a period in wartime that flying a helicopter at night isn't justified, and it's such a common occurrence in places like the Middle East that training for all scenarios are worth it. Night flying is probably one of the most useful strategies especially for fast and subtle insertions, and it's effectiveness (and dangers) were proved in the operation in which Bin Laden was killed. Such a sad occurrence, though. I can't imagine how catastrophic this particular crash was.

 

[Corzhens]

It's dangerous to fly a helicopter at night. But, ultimately, that's what they are needed for. There will never be a period in wartime that flying a helicopter at night isn't justified, and it's such a common occurrence in places like the Middle East that training for all scenarios are worth it. Night flying is probably one of the most useful strategies especially for fast and subtle insertions, and it's effectiveness (and dangers) were proved in the operation in which Bin Laden was killed. Such a sad occurrence, though. I can't imagine how catastrophic this particular crash was.

If those helicopters can fly at night then that would be an innovation that the military would pursue. When the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) convention was held here late last year, we noticed the 2 helicopters flying over the skyline of Metro Manila. Obviously they were big helicopters so we assume they are US choppers for the protection of their presiden who was present in the convention.

 

[vash]

Accidents happen... especially when you have troops train a lot... at night.
It is terrible to have a loss of soldiers when in training. In battle, at least they would be lost in action.

Is there any detail on how they collide? Were they flying side by side and somehow the strong wing or maybe a human error caused them to get too close to each other?

I wish that we knew more about this. It seemed like we lost 12 marines on American soil and it made very little news. The election coverage overshadowed it. There were no calls for flags at half-mast (this is just awful). The helicopters crashed, and the marines cannot be found. And then Americans got caught up in their pettiness over party lines....

The news media were forbidden the report of most military causalities a long time ago. I remember there was a time where news were reporting deaths in Iraq on daily basis. Then all the sudden it was stopped. I do not think the news reporters wanted to stop the news from coming in. It must be the editors who got either an order or a "deal" from high ups...

 

[explorerx7]

It's unfortunate that the crew has seemed to perish in this mishap especially that it happened in a non-combat situation.There is always the danger of something like this happening in these type of activities. I hope, however, there will be no similar occurrence anytime soon.