Military helicopter crashes in southern Maryland

[Quackers]

Source: WLWT NBC-Affiliate

LEONARDTOWN, Md. —
A military helicopter has crashed in St. Mary's County, Maryland, WBAL-TV's sister station WRC reported.

The St.Mary's County Fire Department said about 2 p.m. Monday that the aircraft crashed at the Breton Bay Golf Course, WRC reported.

Information on any injuries was not available immediately, WRC reported.

No further details were immediately available.



Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/article/military-helicopter-crashes-in-southern-maryland/9519428

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More details now available here:

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/military-helicopter-crashes-in-southern-maryland/9519313

LEONARDTOWN, Md. —
A Black Hawk military helicopter crashed in St. Mary's County, Maryland, WBAL-TV sister station WRC reported.

The St.Mary's County Fire Department said that the aircraft crashed at the Breton Bay Golf Course, WRC reported.

"About 1 o'clock we had a Black Hawk helicopter come over and he was kind of flying sideways, pretty low, and then as we got out on the deck watching it, he got treetop level and all of a sudden we saw the tail spin up and just spinning around and we heard him go down," witness Mike Harvey, a golf professional at Breton Bay Golf Course, told WBAL News Radio 1090 AM.

[IronLionZion]

1. Must be part of Naval Air Station Patuxent, home of NAVAIR

There was an F-16 jet that crashed recently near Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland recently.

Really hoping this isn't a pattern of aircraft crashing in Maryland.

[turbinetree]

2. Reads like the witness said that the tail rotor quit spinning in the opposite direction

from the main rotor hub spin---------controllable, but ...............did he or she have time to disengage and auto rotate, if it is the tail rotor

[still_one]

3. hope there is no serious injuries

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. I used to be stationed at Pax River.

They fellow who was my supervisor retired just before I left. He eventually moved to Breton Bay. So this is old home week.

I haven't read enough about this to know if the helicopter was part of the Pax River operations. It could just have easily been flying down the Potomac River from Quantico.

Full disclosure: that's speculation. ETA: unlikely, as per Wikipedia, the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is primarily operated by the Army:

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in 1972. The Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as the winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61.

Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk, the UH-60A entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979, to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois as the Army's tactical transport helicopter. This was followed by the fielding of electronic warfare and special operations variants of the Black Hawk. Improved UH-60L and UH-60M utility variants have also been developed. Modified versions have also been developed for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. In addition to U.S. Army use, the UH-60 family has been exported to several nations. Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and other areas in the Middle East.

St. Mary's County Maryland Live Audio Feeds

Nothing yet at the Scan-DC listserv.

Update: it's from Fort Belvoir. There's one fatality.

Black Hawk military helicopter from Fort Belvoir crashes on St. Mary's County golf course

by ABC7

LEONARDTOWN, Md. (ABC7) — A Black Hawk helicopter based out of Fort Belvoir crashed on a golf course in St. Mary's County Monday afternoon.

Three people were on board at the time of the "hard landing" and one person was "medically evacuated from the scene," according to Fort Belvoir's Facebook page.

A Fort Belvoir UH-60 Helicopter, with 3 crew members on board, had a hard landing at approximately 1:50 p.m. near... http://fb.me/TAWn0VAr

Link to tweet

One Dead in Military Helicopter Crash in Leonardtown

April 17, 2017

On Monday, April 17th, 2017, at approximately 1:20 p.m., rescue personnel were dispatched to a reported aircraft crash at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown.

First responders arrived on scene to find a Army Uh-60 military helicopter crashed on the third hole of the golf course.

It was initially reported, one occupant self extricated himself, while two additional military personal remained trapped. During an extensive extrication, One of the occupants was pronounced deceased at the scene by medical personnel.

Emergency Services Command is coordinating with law enforcement and U.S. Military to control the scene.

[Adrahil]

7. I grew up there and worked on base there for 20 years...

My job now is still associated with that base. I'm very sad for the dead and injured Ft Belvoir aircrew, but I admit I am somewhat relieved it wasn't from Pax.

My high school girlfriend lived right next to that golf course.

[lamp_shade]

5. Two injured and evacuated (update at wbaltv link).

[JaneQPublic]

6. One dead, according to local news

It's an Army helicopter from Ft. Belvoir, VA.

http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/0417/helicopter-crash-in-st-marys-county.html

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Army crew chief killed in crash lived dream on Black Hawks

Army crew chief killed in crash lived dream on Black Hawks

The Associated Press 1 hr ago

WASHINGTON — Spc. Jeremy Tomlin was afraid of heights but his fear fell away when he was in a Black Hawk helicopter, his mother said Wednesday. ... Tomlin, 22, was killed this week when the helicopter he was on crashed into a Maryland golf course during a training mission. Two other soldiers on board were critically injured.

“Jeremy loved to hunt and fish,” grandfather Ronnie Tomlin said. “Growing up, he never caused anyone trouble. All he wanted to do was play video games. He was just an average kid.”

Tomlin, the helicopter’s crew chief, grew up in the Chapel Hill, Tennessee, area. He was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion and stationed at Davison Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ... He started playing video games at age 3 or 4, Jenny Tomlin said.

After graduating from high school in Unionville and turning 18, he headed off. He married his high school sweetheart, Jessica, before shipping off to Germany and they spent two years there, Jenny Tomlin said. .... A memorial service for Tomlin is scheduled for Friday morning at Fort Belvoir.