The Assocaited Press January 04, 2007
Guard grounds copters after crash
Five still hospitalized following Tuesday accident in remote area east of San Diego
By Allison Hoffman
NATIONAL CITY - California National Guard helicopters deployed to help monitor the U.S.-Mexico border were grounded Wednesday following a crash that injured nine people in mountains east of San Diego.
Two National Guard soldiers and three Border Patrol agents remained hospitalized with neck and back injuries suffered in Tuesday's crash, said Col. Kevin Ellsworth, commander of the joint mission along the California border. In all there were five agents and four Guard members aboard.
Officials would not comment on the cause of the crash of the 1973 UH-1 Huey transport helicopter, which went down while transporting the Border Patrol team to inaccessible areas for operations against human smugglers.
The grounding order applied to six remaining helicopters on border duty, including one Huey and five OH-58 observation craft. The Guard's six other Hueys elsewhere in the state remain operational.
"Any time there's an accident there's a safety stand-down," Ellsworth said. Any decision to put the helicopters back in the air will come from state investigators, he said.
The crash occurred about 3:40 p.m. on Otay Mountain about 20 miles southeast of downtown San Diego and a few miles north of the international border. The craft, which had picked up the agents at Brown Field, came to rest on its belly, its main rotor snapped off and tail broken.
Power lines were reported down near the site, but authorities said it was not clear whether the lines contributed to the crash or were downed as the helicopter fell.
The cause of the crash will be investigated by a team from the state National Guard and another from the U.S. Army Aviation center at Fort Rucker, Ala.
Col. Mitchell Medigovich, an aviation expert who is leading the California National Guard's investigation into the accident, said the helicopter was among Vietnam-era Hueys still flown by the state Guard.
The Guard's more modern Black Hawk helicopters are currently undergoing refurbishment after deployment in support of the Guard's operations in Iraq, though Medigovich said some may be sent to the border in coming months.
"We don't want to speculate that the cause of the accident was anything to do with the age of these helicopters," Medigovich said, noting that the helicopter had undergone regular maintenance.
UH-1 maintenance is performed by Guard personnel, said Jonathan Guibord, a Guard spokesman.
A Border Patrol spokesman in the San Diego sector said he was not away of any instruction to ground its own air fleet, which consists mainly of Black Hawk helicopters and one Huey, but said agents would continue to hike into remote areas until the National Guard air transports resumed.
"They'll still be working out there, but they won't be going up in helicopters," said agent Damon Foreman.
Medigovich said the UH-1 pilot and co-pilot were both experienced fliers with years of experience.
Ellsworth said all of the crew members credited the pilots with bringing the helicopter down as gently as possible in rough terrain.
"The wreckage looks pretty bad," Ellsworth said. "It could have been devastating, and all the people aboard survived."
A National Guard medic was thrown from the helicopter as it landed and was pinned beneath the craft, Ellsworth said. He directed others in the crew to shut off the fuel supply and prop up the helicopter before digging him out from underneath, Ellsworth said.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, Ellsworth said. He would not release any details of the names, ages, or ranks of those aboard, citing privacy concerns.
Hueys first flew in 1959 and were last produced in 1976, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a Web site that provides information on defense issues. The Army converted to the UH-60 as the mainstay of its transport fleet.
"There's a standing gripe by the (National) Guard that they get the hand-me-downs," said John Pike, director of the organization. "The regular Army just doesn't fly these things anymore. ... They are the signature helicopter of Vietnam."
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