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Military Talks Cleanup Efforts At Mt. Massive Crash Site
Black Hawk Crash On Mount Massive Killed 4
POSTED: 7:21 am MDT July 29, 2010
UPDATED: 7:28 am MDT July 29, 2010
LEADVILLE, Colo. -- Military officials will discuss cleanup efforts at the site of a Black Hawk helicopter crash last year that killed four crew members on Colorado's Mount Massive. Officials from Fort Carson and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command said debris was recently discovered where the crash happened in August and on Wednesday morning they will talk about the cleanup operation. The four crew members who died in the crash were from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment from Fort Campbell, Ky. They were on a training mission and were trying to land near the summit of the mountain.
Army officials later said the helicopter didn't have enough power for a high-altitude landing it was attempting near the summit of Mount Massive during a training mission. Mount Massive reaches a height of 14,421 feet, near Leadville. Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak, is only 12 feet higher. The chopper crashed at 14,200 feet. The Army said the crew's flight plan didn't take into account the helicopter's performance limits at that altitude. No mechanical failures were identified.Two soldiers from the chopper were alive when a group of college students who had been building a hiking trail nearby reached them, but the pair were too badly injured to survive. One of the soldiers died soon after the trail-building crew reached the crash site. But another soldier remained alive until a helicopter ambulance arrived to help, officials said. That soldier died after the medical helicopter -- bound for a Denver hospital -- was rerouted to a nearer Breckenridge medical center when his condition worsened. He died shortly after arriving at the medical center. The MH-60 Black Hawk was from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment -- also known as the "Night Stalkers" -- at Fort Campbell, Ky. Its crew members were experienced aviators and combat veterans with at least 10 deployments each.
Previous Stories:
- January 22, 2010: Human Error Cited In Army Helicopter Crash On Colo. Mountain
- August 28, 2009: Wreckage Of Army Helicopter Removed From Mount Massive
- August 24, 2009: Army Chopper Crash Victims Identified
- August 21, 2009: 4 Soldiers Killed In Helicopter Crash ID'd
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