WASHINGTON — The US Army today announced a service-wide aviation stand down following a pair of deadly helicopter accidents that claimed the lives of a dozen soldiers.
The stand down “grounds all Army aviators, except those participating in critical missions,” the service said in an early evening press release. Active duty units are required to complete a 24-hour stand down sometime next week, while Guard and Reserve units can complete the stand down by the end of next month.
“The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said in the release. “During this stand down, we will focus on safety and training protocols to ensure our pilots and crews have the knowledge, training and awareness to safely complete their assigned mission.”
The Army cited two deadly incidents, just weeks apart, as the reason for the stand down. Late last month nine soldiers died when two Black Hawks collided during what the Army called a “routine night training flight” in Kentucky. Then, on Thursday, three more soldiers were killed in a mid-air collision between two Apache attack helicopters in Alaska, the Army said.
McConville, a former Army aviator, said, “It is their loss that makes it all the more important we review our safety procedures and training protocols, and ensure we are training and operating at the highest levels of safety and proficiency.”
The service said that during the stand down, it will review “risk approval/risk management process, aviation maintenance training program, aircrew training standardization and management, and supervisory responsibility.” The Army will also “assess the flight-mission briefing process with an emphasis on risk mitigation, crew selection, flight planning, crew/flight briefings, debriefings and after-action reviews.”
The news comes just hours after the end of a major annual gathering of Army aviators, put on by the Army Aviation Association of America, for which McConville was in attendance.