THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605120184
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAVELOCK, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Marines flying two helicopters that collided in the dark during a war exercise made no apparent mistakes during a dress rehearsal the night before, the deputy Secretary of Defense said Saturday.
``Everything was done the way it ought to be done,'' John White told reporters from the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, about an hour's drive from the site of the crash that killed 14 servicemen and seriously injured two others.
Marine investigators waded chest-deep through a dank swamp Saturday in search of clues to the cause of the collision between a CH-46E Sea Knight troop carrier and an AH-1W SuperCobra assault ship.
The Camp Lejeune collision left one helicopter so torn up that investigators said it was hard to identify. The accident happened at 2 a.m. Friday while the aircraft were participating in war games involving British and American troops massed off the North Carolina coast.
No British troops were involved in the accident.
``I have no indications of a possible cause at this time,'' public affairs officer Maj. Steve Little said Saturday.
White, who attended a memorial service earlier aboard a helicopter assault ship, said the choppers hit at an altitude of about 300 feet. He said troops had conducted a full-dress rehearsal of the exercise the night before the crash, and that he believed the helicopters involved were safe. They were wearing night-vision goggles during the rehearsal and when they crashed.
The investigation at the crash site was suspended by darkness Friday night, but resumed at daybreak Saturday, Little said. All of the bodies were recovered Friday afternoon.
The pilot and co-pilot of the CH-46E, the only survivors of the crash, remained hospitalized Saturday.
Maj. Charles A. Johnson of Fairfax, the pilot, was listed in critical condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. First Lt. Walter W. Kulakowski of Alachua, Fla., was in stable condition at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital.
Lt. Gen. Charles Wilhelm, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Atlantic, said Saturday that troops were carrying on with the exercise while remembering those who died.
Before Friday's collision, nine Marine Corps aircraft had crashed this year, killing five people.
In March, the Marine Corps called a two-day halt to all nonessential flight operations to review safety rules after a rash of unexplained crashes. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
CRASH CASUALTIES
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Following are the dead and injured from
Friday's collision of two Marine helicopters at Camp Lejeune:
KILLED
Maj. Michael D. Kuszewski, 42, USMC, Fort Devens, Mass.
Capt. Scott T. Rice, 28, USMC, Springfield, Mo.
1st Lt. Joseph Fandrey, 25, USMC, Norfolk, Mass.
1st Lt. Arthur J. Schneider, 25, USMC, Livingston, N.J.
Cpl. Brandon J. Tucker, 23, USMC, Gaston, N.C.
Cpl. Brian L. Collins, 22, USMC, Louisville, Ky.
Cpl. Britt T. Stacey, 26, USMC, Roanoke, Va.
Cpl. Erik D. Kirkland, 29, USMC, Lewisburg, Pa.
LCpl. John Condello, 22, USMC, Rochester, N.Y.
LCpl. Jackie D. Chidester, 23, USMC, Newark, Ohio
LCpl. Jose L. Elizarraras, 20, USMC, Orange, Calif.
LCpl. Jorge E. Malagon, 19, USMC, Melrose Park, Ill.
Hospitalman Brent W. Garmon, 20, U.S. Navy, New Bern, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Sean Carroll, 36, U.S. Army, Newburgh, N.Y.
INJURED
Maj. Charles A. Johnson Jr., 33, USMC, Fairfax, Va., and 1st Lt.
Walter W. Kulakowski, 33, USMC, Alachua, Fla.
KEYWORDS: U.S. MARINE CORPS ACCIDENT MILITARY ACCIDENT
PLANE HELICOPTER FATALITIES INJURIES by CNB