Marine Dies In Hawaii After ‘Hard Landing Mishap’ With Osprey Aircraft During Training, 21 Hurt
One Marine has died and 21 were sent to hospital after an Osprey aircraft had a “hard-landing mishap” in Hawaii, causing a fire that dark smoke curling into the air.
Their injuries range from minor to critical, the Associated Press reported. There are no details about the person who died.
Soldiers from the 14th Marine Expeditionary Unit were in Hawaii for the week and departed Camp Pendleton in California earlier this month for a seven-month deployment to Pacific Command and Central Command areas of operation.
The helicopter carrying the men – including one Naval Officer – sustained the mishap during “routine sustainment training ” at Bellows Air Force Station on the island of Oahu in at 11:40 a.m. Hawaii time, the New York Times added.
Marine dead, 21 hospitalized in Osprey hard landing in Hawaii: http://t.co/Efk9yLOaRS pic.twitter.com/SMcysRi9Ez
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 18, 2015
One Marine dead, 21 injured in #Hawaii MV-22 Osprey crash http://t.co/GNfkc0F59vhttps://t.co/0WDVnPpuQz
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) May 18, 2015
A hiker, Kimberly Hynd, saw three of the helicopters “performing maneuvers” from about two to three miles away while hiking on the Lanikai Pillbox Trail; she told Fox News she didn’t hear the crash.
“It looked like they were doing some sort of maneuver or formation — and so I was taking pictures of it because usually you can’t see them that close up.”
She watched them kick up dirt, but that quickly turned to fire. Neighbor Donald Gahit said he heard sirens and noticed smoke coming from the base.
“At first I thought it was clouds, but it was moving fast and it was pretty dark.”
The Marine Corps aren’t saying much about the incident, except that one Marine died as a result of the incident and the others are being treated for various, unidentified injuries and taken to local hospitals. The name of the person who died hasn’t been released, nor the names or conditions of the injured.
The cause of the crash will be investigated.
The Osprey takes off and lands the same as a helicopter, but has wings to fly like a plane. It can be equipped with radar, lasers, and a missile defense system and can transport 24 soldiers. It has a sketchy history, however: past mechanical failures and two test crashes killed 23 Marines in 2000, and the program was nearly abandoned.
Since then, they have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, sent to Nepal to aid in the earthquake effort.
[Photo Courtesy Twitter]
