FORT LEWIS, Wash. — The victims have been identified in the military Black Hawk helicopter crash that killed three people.

Chief Warrant Officers Patrick Page, 32, and James Whitehead, 33, and Sergeant Thomas Clarkston Jr., 25, were all aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk when it went down near the south side of Mount Peak, near Mud Mountain Road.

King County sheriff’s Deputy Rodney Chinnick says searchers found the wreckage about 10 p.m. Thursday. The soldiers were on a night training mission when the crash occurred.

Chinnick says county officials contacted Fort Lewis, which confirmed it had a helicopter missing.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, and a team from the Army’s Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., will assist in the investigation.

An injured pilot scaled an ice wall on Mt Ruapehu last night to get help for his passengers after a helicopter crashed near the Crater Lake. Five people, four men and a woman, were taken to hospital after being rescued from the crash site.

The crash happened about 5.30 pm when a Hughes 500 carrying five people, including three Department of Conservation staff, was returning from the Crater Lake. National Park police spokesman Tony Carne said the helicopter crashed soon after take-off, hitting the side of the crater and falling into the water.

“The occupants had to climb out of the water on to a ledge between the lake and an ice wall,” Mr. Carne said. The alarm was raised about 6.10 pm when the pilot, who had climbed the ice wall, and walked down the mountain toward Whakapapa ski field, met some trampers.

Taupo-based Lion Foundation rescue helicopter pilot Dan Harcourt said the pilot used one of the tramper’s cell phones to dial 111.
“The pilot had managed to climb the near vertical 30-metre ice shelf above his crash site with just an ice axe and a broken foot, and then continued down the mountain until he was able to alert hikers to his situation,” Mr. Harcourt said.

Mr. Carne said emergency staff from National Park police, Ruapehu Alpine rescue Organization (RARO) and the Department of Conservation responded.” Four RARO members were airlifted from Whakapapa Medical Centre and assessed the injured parties via a long-line below the Helicopter Services rescue helicopter,” Mr. Carne said.

Mr. Harcourt said the four passengers were long-lined up out of the lake to the rim of the crater and then ferried down for assessment at Whakapapa Medical Centre.

All of the victims were treated at the centre for a range of injuries including a broken rib, dislocated shoulder, head wounds and hypothermia. Mr Harcourt said a 37-year-old Whakapapa man was flown to Waikato Hospital with chest, head and leg injuries. Another Taupo man was also flown to Waikato to be assessed for a suspected spinal injury.

The 33-year-old pilot was flown to Waikato for treatment, while the other two passengers were driven to Taumarunui Hospital to be treated for mild hypothermia. Mr Carne said the Department of Conservation, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Transport Accident Commission and police would be investigating the cause of the crash and the recovery of the helicopter.

SOURCE: The New Zealand Herald

VERNAL — A Uintah County sheriff’s detective critically injured when a helicopter crashed into the Green River died early Wednesday morning at LDS Hospital.

Detective Cpl. Kevin Orr, 34, sustained catastrophic injuries on Tuesday afternoon when the helicopter he was riding in clipped an unmarked power line hanging across the river and plummeted into the water below.

“He was an outstanding family man, an outstanding officer,” said Uintah County Sheriff’s Lt. Keith Campbell. “He was always willing to go the extra mile to achieve his goals.”

Helicopter pilot Brian Grayson of Reno, Nev., remains at University of Utah Medical Center. Hospital officials declined to release Grayson’s condition, at his request.

Campbell said the two men were participating in a joint air and ground search for a 25-year-old Jensen woman missing since Nov. 17. Several members of the ground search team witnessed the crash and pulled Orr and Grayson from the river.

The investigation into the disappearance of Kimberly Michelle Turney, whose abandoned car was discovered in flames on a road parallel to the river, remains active despite Tuesday’s accident, Campbell said.

Court records show that Turney has been the victim of domestic violence in the past. Since 2001, the mother of two small children has sought at least four protective orders against two different men, three of them against her current boyfriend.

Turney has also had recent legal troubles of her own. She had been scheduled to make an initial appearance in Provo’s 4th District Court this past Monday on a felony DUI charge and a misdemeanor charge of failing to report an accident, but she went missing the Friday before her court appointment. The charges stem from an Oct. 11 arrest in Spanish Fork.

Campbell said investigators have interviewed several people, including Turney’s boyfriend, but have nothing to indicate that the missing woman is the victim of a crime. The lieutenant also declined to speculate if Turney’s pending court date may have played a role in her disappearance.

“To this minute, we don’t have anything that would indicate foul play,” Campbell said. “We’re just trying to locate her and check her welfare.”

Investigators are concerned that Turney may have been injured in a single-car crash that preceded the Nov. 17 car fire and wandered away from the scene.

On Wednesday, about 40 community members converged at the site where Turney’s car was found to launch their own impromptu search. Campbell said authorities are following up on every piece of information they have received so far and are hoping that the public can help them locate Turney.

Anyone with information about Turney is asked to call the Uintah County Sheriff’s Department at (435) 722-2511.

Detective Orr’s funeral service is set for Saturday in Maeser. The 11-year veteran of the sheriff’s department leaves behind a wife and four children.

SOURCE: Geoff Liesik Deseret Morning News

Families of Soldiers Killed in 2004 Black Hawk Helicopter Crash in Waco, Texas file a Wrongful Death Lawsuit against the Television Tower Owners and Operators.

Press Release

Houston, TX — The Willis Law Firm and co-counsel, today announced that they have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of three soldiers who died when a U.S. Army helicopter collided with guy wires supporting a television broadcasting tower near Waco, Texas, on a foggy morning in November 2004. At the time of the helicopter crash, the television tower’s warning lights were not functioning, a violation of Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The suit alleges negligence on the part of Oklahoma-based KSWO Television Company, Inc., one of the owners and/or operators of the tower.

The helicopter, a UH-60L Black Hawk, crashed on November 29, 2004, shortly after taking off from Fort Hood, Texas, killing all seven soldiers aboard. Victims included Brigadier General Charles B. Allen of Lawton, Oklahoma; Specialist Richard L. Brown of Stonewall, Louisiana; Chief Warrant Officer Todd T. Christmas of Wagon Mound, New Mexico; Chief Warrant Officer Doug Clapp of Greensboro, North Carolina; Chief Warrant Officer Mark W. Evans of Killeen, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer David H. Garner of Mason City, Iowa; and Colonel James M. Moore of Peabody, Massachusetts. The lawsuit against KSWO Television Company, Inc. is filed on behalf of the families of Officers Christmas, Garner, and Evans. The families of the other victims are not currently involved in the suit.

“…this helicopter crash and the deaths of these soldiers was 100% preventable, but for the simple negligence of the tower company to wait days to repairs the lights. Such a simple fix, such horrible outcome…” said David P. Willis, of the Willis Law Firm in Houston, Texas.

Erica Smith Christmas et al. v. Centex Television Limited Partnership, KSWO Television of Texas, Inc., and KSWO Television Company, Inc. is filed in the 414th District Court in McLennan County, Texas, Cause No. 2006-3165-5.

The Willis Law Firm

The Willis Law Firm is based in Houston, Texas with a strong national presence and recognition. With over 32 years of personal injury experience, Mr. David Willis is a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is licensed in Texas and New York. He has gained a national reputation as a leading personal injury lawyer in the United States. He specializes in the prosecution of serious injury cases, involving burns, paralysis, anoxic brain damage, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and wrongful death suits against manufacturers, chemical plants and other corporate entities in Texas and across the United States.

SOURCE: PRWEB

WACO, Texas — Relatives of three soldiers killed in an Army helicopter crash sued the owners and operators of a television tower, claiming broken warning lights on the tower created a hazard.

Seven soldiers from Fort Hood died in November 2004 when their helicopter plummeted to the ground on a foggy morning after apparently striking cables supporting a TV transmission tower near Waco, Texas. The tower’s warning lights were knocked out in a storm the week before and were not operating and in need of repair. The helicopter crash lawsuit alleged that failure to adequately and promptly maintain the lights created “a dangerous hazard to nearby aircraft, including the helicopter in which plaintiffs were passengers,” it said.

Those named in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in state district court in McLennan County, include Centex Television Limited Partnership, which owns KXXV-TV in Waco. A television station official declined to comment. Representatives who answered the phone at Centex said the company had no comment. Army investigators said last year that the fatal crash was caused by the pilots’ attempt to fly under visual flight rules in poor weather conditions.

The lawsuit was filed by family members of Chief Warrant Officer 2 David H. Gardner Jr., 32, of Mason City, Iowa, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Mark W. Evans Jr., 27, of Jacksonville, Fla., who were the Black Hawk’s pilots; and Capt. Todd T. Christmas, 26, of Wagon Mound, N.M.. Others killed include Chief Warrant Officer Doug Clapp, Colonel James Moore, and Brigadier General Charles B. Allen.

Texas Trial Lawyer, David P. Willis of the Willis Law Firm along with Attorney, Nelson J. Roach of the Nix Patterson & Roach Law Firm represent three families of those killed in the Army helicopter crash. A wrongful death lawsuit against the television tower owners has been filed because of their negligence in maintaining lights on the TV transmission tower which resulted in seven deaths — when the military helicopter hit one of the cables early one foggy morning and crashed in November 2005 outside Waco, Texas.

ANKARA — All five passengers on board a Russian firefighting helicopter that has crashed in Turkey have survived, the Turkish Agriculture Ministry said Monday.

The K-32 had been helping extinguish forest fires in a Turkish province of Antalia, a Turkish news agency reported.But a spokeswoman for the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said it was not a ministry aircraft.

Irina Andrianova said ministry helicopters had helped put out fires in Greece, “but not this year.” Sergei Alifanov, a representative of the Russian consulate in Antalia, said the mission was checking the information about any Russians who may have been on board the helicopter.

With its compact shape and a lift capacity of 11,000 pounds, Russian-made Kamov helicopters are widely used around the world in forest-logging and firefighting operations.

SOURCE: RIA Novosti

A Robinson R44 helicopter crashed in foggy weather off the Oregon coast Sunday morning near Astoria, Oregon killing two men and a woman. The Robinson R44 helicopter had been flying in tandem as part of the Flight of Discovery which was retracing the path of Lewis and Clark.

The US Coast Guard received a call at about 8:20 a.m. from another helicopter pilot who reported he had lost communications and visual contact with a Robinson R44 helicopter.

According to news reports, the weather conditions where the helicopter crashed were foggy, with a cloud ceiling of about 100 feet and visibility of about 1/2 mile.

Helicopter Crash in Sabino Canyon Area Kills One

An air photo helicopter from out of state crashed near Sabino Canyon Thursday.

There were two people on board, the pilot, and a photographer taking pictures of the Tucson area.

It happened around 9:00 Thursday morning in Box Camp Canyon, just East of Sabino Canyon.

The pilot, Brandon Hahaj, directed rescue crews to the crash site.

He apparently hiked to a visible area and used his cell phone to tell rescuers where he was.

Deputy Nicole Feldt with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told News 4, “He actually was telling the 911 dispatcher, ‘Hey they just passed me, make a u-turn, I’m over here,’ and actually guided them right to where he was by waving his shirt ion the air to them to attract their attention.”

Hahaj stayed overnight Thursday at University Medical Center for observation. We’re told he has non-life threatening injuries.

His passenger did not survive the crash.

Authorities say the chopper is an air photo helicopter and the pair was visiting Sabino Canyon taking aerial pictures when they crashed in Box Camp Canyon.

Trams and hiking trails in Sabino Canyon, a popular recreation area that is part of the Coronado National Forest, were closed temporarily to visitor activity because of the crash.

The canyon was closed last week because of damage caused by runoff from summer storms but had reopened this week.

SOURCE: KVOA

The widow of a photographer killed in a helicopter crash while filming “The Final Season” is suing actor Sean Astin, the movie’s producers and the pilot, among others. Kathryn Schlotzhauer alleges that the crash on June 30th in Benton County could have been avoided if the crew scouted the scene and noted the power lines that brought the helicopter down. Her husband, 50-year-old Roland Schlotzhauer of Lenexa, Kansas, was killed in the crash. He was filming a parade scene in the final days of the shoot when the helicopter crashed into a cornfield near Walford.

The crash also seriously injured 72 year old pilot Richard Green of Hudson and producer Tony Wilson of Dallas Center. Both survivors are named among 19 defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Polk County.

The suit also names Wilson’s special-effects firm Applied Art and Technology of Des Moines, and the East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative, which owns the power lines.

The initial investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that occurred Monday morning is focusing on the possibility that the crash was caused by a technical malfunction.

The investigation is being conducted by the air force.

Initial reports suggested that the Apache helicopter crashed when it hit an electrical wire.

The possibility that the helicopter crash was caused by a shoulder fired missile has almost been completely ruled out due to the high altitude at which the helicopter was flying at the time of the accident.

Two pilots were killed in the accident.

SOURCE: IsraelNN.com