The Union Leader February 26, 2003
NH man killed in crash of Black Hawk in Kuwait
From staff and wire reports
A New Hampshire soldier was one of four crew members killed in a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kuwait yesterday.
The Army would not release 27-year-old Spc. William J. Tracy's hometown, but an Army spokeswoman said Tracy was most recently based at the Aviano air base in Italy. She said Tracy was born in Massachusetts, but listed New Hampshire as his home state. His Bay State birth community was not specified.
The aircraft, which belonged to the Army's V Corps, was part of the force that has massed in this Persian Gulf emirate for a possible invasion of Iraq.
The Pentagon identified those killed yesterday as Spc. Rodrigo Gonzalez-Garza, 26, of Texas; Chief Warrant Officer Timothy W. Moehling, 35, of Florida; Chief Warrant Officer John D. Smith, 32, of Idaho; and Tracy.
A memorial service will be held for the soldiers today at Camp Udairi, the military publication Stars and Stripes reported.
Kuwait army spokesman Col. Youssef al-Mulla said the helicopter went down in bad weather. Sandstorms and high winds were reported overnight and continued yesterday afternoon. An Army statement said the crash site was near Camp New Jersey, about 30 miles northwest of Kuwait City.
The UH-60 Black Hawk was one of two flying in formation when it crashed at 12:30 a.m. local time, Lt. Col. Glenn Barr, deputy commander of the Task Force 11th Aviation, told Stars and Stripes. The other crew returned safely.
"One Chalk (the other flight crew) saw a bright flash from ground level and concluded there had been a crash," Barr said. The pilots issued no distress call beforehand.
Barr told Stars and Stripes the flight crew was practicing with night-vision goggles in a desert environment, which is challenging because the field of vision is much narrower than the 180 degrees or more a pilot can see during the daytime. Clouds and dust can reduce the available light, he said.
"It requires a lot more scanning, a lot more crew coordination," he said.
The helicopter was part of the 158th Aviation Regiment, 5th Battalion, of the 12th Aviation Brigade, headquartered in Giebelstadt, Germany.
According to the Web site globalsecurity.org, the regiment is the largest aviation battalion in the U.S. Army and its mission includes transportation of people and equipment.
The group is attached to V Corps' 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment, which is part of some 9,000 troops from the corps deployed as part of the recent U.S. buildup. It includes a headquarters unit commanded by Lt. Gen. William Wallace.
V Corps spokesman Bill Roche said from corps headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, that it was still too early to speculate about a cause of the crash.
The bodies are expected to be brought back to Germany, Roche said.
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