2005 Al-Anbar CH-53E crash

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2005 Al-Anbar CH-53E crash
M777 Howitzer External Lift 121229-M-EF955-120.jpg
A CH-53E helicopter, similar to the one that crashed.
Accident
DateJanuary 26th, 2005
SummaryCrashed in a sandstorm
Site Al-Anbar Province, Iraq
Aircraft
Aircraft type CH-53E Super Stallion
OperatorU.S. Marine Corps
Passengers27
Crew4
Fatalities31 (all)
Survivors0

The 2005 Al-Anbar CH-53E crash refers to an aviation accident which occurred on January 26, 2005 when a United States Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed [1] while ferrying U.S. military personnel in the Al-Anbar province of western Iraq, near the town of Ar-Rutbah. All thirty-one troops aboard the helicopter died in the crash, which made it the deadliest single incident for U.S. troops during the Iraq War. The accident took place while coalition forces were trying to secure the country ahead of the January 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election slated to take place later that month. The cause of the crash was determined to be the pilots becoming disoriented when they flew into a sandstorm [2]

Contents

Background

The CH-53E Super Stallion first entered service in 1981, becoming the largest and heaviest helicopter in the inventory of the United States military. Its three gas turbine engines gave the helicopter a superior amount of thrust capability and allowed it to become the workhorse of the U.S. Marine Corps, its primary operator. [3]

U.S. forces in Iraq were also at the time facing increasing opposition to its previously unchallenged air superiority. Insurgent forces were increasingly targeting coalition aircraft, usually American helicopters, which provided ample targets. In November 2003, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah by a shoulder-fired missile, killing 16 American troops. In 2004, a total of 13 U.S. helicopters were brought down by enemy ground fire over Iraq. The increasing prevalence of ground fire led American forces to change their tactics, and helicopters began flying low and predominantly at night to avoid drawing fire. [2]

Another threat to U.S. helicopters in Iraq was sand. The arid desert environment led many U.S. aircraft to become contaminated with large quantities of sand, affecting aircraft performance and overall mechanical well-being as well as posing a threat to pilots, who can be blinded during landing operations. At an October 2003 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Joel Hefley (R-CO), the chairman, said the typical Super Stallion returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq was found to have 150 pounds of sand spread throughout its interior. [2]

Accident

At 1:20 am AST on 26 January 2005 a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter (164536), code named Sampson 22 [4] from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 (HMH-361) was ferrying a platoon of U.S. Marines from the 3rd Marine Division in Al-Anbar province, Iraq near the town of Ar-Rutbah, about seventy miles from the Jordanian border when it encountered a sandstorm. [5]

Al-Anbar province, Iraq Iraq Al Anbar Governorate.svg
Al-Anbar province, Iraq

Sampson 22's pilots, Captain Paul C. Alaniz, 32, and Captain Lyle L. Gordon, 31, became disoriented in the storm and did not realize the helicopter was banking to the left when it crashed into the ground. All of the four crew and 27 passengers, of which all but one were U.S. Marines, were killed. General John Abizaid, commander of US troops in Iraq, said the helicopter was on "a routine mission in support of the elections". [6] The helicopter was carrying the troops to secure a polling site in preparation for the January 2005 Iraqi parliamentary elections [7] set to take place four days from the day of the crash.

Aftermath

At 10:00 a.m [ citation needed ] the same day of the crash, the Marines confirmed the loss of all thirty-one aboard the helicopter. [8] The helicopter crash was the deadliest loss of American troops in a single incident of the entire Iraq War, and as a result January 26, 2005, became the deadliest day for U.S. troops during the war, since six more American troops were killed throughout the country on that day. [5]

Captain Norman T. Day, the mishap CH-53E's wingman, was relieved of flying duty as a result of the crash and faced the threat of charges of dereliction of duty after it was revealed that he was responsible for providing updated weather information for the flight. A heavily redacted 400-page report cited causes such as spatial disorientation, overconfidence in the use of night-vision goggles, and pilot error in addition to the poor weather conditions. [9]

In a statement on January 26, President George W. Bush paid condolences to the men killed in the crash in a larger statement about the Iraqi elections stating "The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people," Bush said at the White House. "I understand that. We value life. And we weep and mourn when soldiers lose their life. And—but it is the long-term objective that is vital, and that is to spread freedom. Otherwise, the Middle East will be—will continue to be a cauldron of resentment and hate, a recruiting ground for those who have this vision of the world that is the exact opposite of ours" and "Anytime we lose lives, it is a sad moment." [10]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion</span> Transport helicopter series by Sikorsky

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ar-Rutbah</span> Town in Al-Anbar, Iraq

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-361</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-462</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-465</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-461</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-466</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-463</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMHT-302</span> Military unit

Marine Heavy Helicopter Training Squadron 302 (HMHT-302), is a United States Marine Corps helicopter training squadron stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. Known as the "Phoenix", HMHT-302 trains newly designated Naval Aviators, conversion pilots, refresher pilots, and enlisted aircrew on the CH-53E Super Stallion and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 29 (MAG-29) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HC-4</span> Military unit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMH-366</span> Military unit

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 366 (HMH-366) was a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion heavy transport helicopters. The squadron, known as the "Hammerheads," was based at Marine Corps Air Station New River and fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 29 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The squadron's tail code was "HH." At the squadron's reactivation on 30 September 2008, it had 130 Marines and 8 aircraft on-hand which grew to more than 300 Marines and 16 aircraft in 2009. The squadron was decommissioned on 16 December 2022 in accordance with Force Design 2030

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2003–2011)</span> Campaign during the Iraq War

The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

References

  1. ↑ "Iraq air crash kills 31 US troops". BBC News. 2005-01-26. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Filkins, Dexter (2005-01-27). "31 Americans Die as Marine Copter Goes Down in Iraq". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100626003024/http://www.vectorsite.net/avskbig_2.html S-80 Origins / US Marine & Navy Service / Japanese Service Archived 26 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Vectorsite.net, 1 December 2009.
  4. ↑ The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan (Pg. 101)
  5. 1 2 Barr, Cameron W.; Vick, Karl (2005-01-27). "30 Marines, Sailor Die In Copter Crash in Iraq (washingtonpost.com)". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  6. ↑ "31 killed in copter crash on deadliest day for U.S. military in Iraq". mcclatchydc. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  7. ↑ The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush and Barack Obama (Pg. 35)
  8. ↑ The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan (Pg. 546)
  9. ↑ "Marine Corps News Room: Pilot error blamed in deadly Iraq crash". Marine Corps News Room. 1999-02-22. Archived from the original on 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  10. ↑ "Bush Upbeat on Vote but Warns Iraqis Need to Take Initiative". The New York Times. 2005-01-26. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
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