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Sikorsky sued over fatal U.S. Army crash

September 11, 2014  By The Associated Press

Sept. 11, 2014 – SAVANNAH, Ga. — A lawsuit filed Monday blames civilian makers of an Army Black Hawk helicopter for a fatal crash in Georgia eight months ago, saying manufacturers failed to install a tiny part that caused the tail rotor to malfunction and sent the aircraft spinning out of control.


Sept. 11, 2014 – SAVANNAH, Ga. — A lawsuit filed Monday blames civilian makers of an Army Black Hawk helicopter for a fatal crash in Georgia eight months ago, saying manufacturers failed to install a tiny part that caused the tail rotor to malfunction and sent the aircraft spinning out of control.

The Jan. 16 crash during a training flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah killed the co-pilot, Capt. Clayton O. Carpenter, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and seriously injured two other crew members onboard — the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jon Ternstrom of Walnut Creek, Calif., and the crew chief, Spc. Cameron Witzler of Clarksville, Tenn.

The crew belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as the Night Stalkers. The elite unit trains soldiers to fly helicopters behind enemy lines under cover of darkness and was responsible for flying Navy SEALs into Pakistan during the 2010 raid in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Campbell, Ky., but has a battalion stationed in Savannah. | READ MORE

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