Cobra crash - two injured

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Press Report

NEW BERN, N.C.
Two Marines were injured when their Super Cobra attack helicopter crashed in the Croatan National Forest on North Carolina's central coast.
The men suffered multiple contusions, but were able to walk, said Capt. James Jarvis, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
He said they were in critical but stable condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. Their identities were withheld while the Marines attempted to reach their families, he said.

Marine Staff Sgt. Amy Contreras said the helicopter crashed at 3:42 near Catfish Lake, about 10 miles northwest of Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and eight miles south of New Bern in the Croatan National Forest.

The crash site is about a mile from the nearest road in an unpopulated area, Jarvis said. The terrain is so thickly wooded that a Marine rescue helicopter was unable to land and the victims had to be hoisted aboard while it hovered overhead, he said. Contreras said the men were conscious and in good spirits when rescuers arrived.

The pilots, assigned to the 26th MEU based at New River Air Station near Jacksonville, were on a training flight when the crash occurred, Jarvis said.

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Excerpts from Jacksonville Daily News reports
The crash occurred at 3:42 p.m. while the Cobra, assigned to Camp Lejeune’s 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was on a training mission. Three other Cobras safely returned to New River.

The injured Marines, Maj. Michael A. Byrd and Capt. Samuel A. Meyer, were extracted from the crash site by Pedro, Cherry Point Air Station’s CH-46 Sea Knight search and rescue helicopter.

The terrain made it impossible for Pedro to land, so the victims, whose ages were not available, were hoisted aboard while it hovered above the crash site.

“The pilots are in critical but stable condition at Pitt Memorial Hospital.Their injuries are not life threatening.”

An investigation into the cause of the crash was under way Thursday evening, but work was slowed by the dense forest. A CH-53E helicopter from the 26th MEU hovered over the crash site, taking photographs to aid in the investigation, Jarvis said.


“We’re always concerned when one of the aircraft goes down,” Jarvis said. “These are not only our comrades, they’re also our Little League coaches and our volunteer firemen. We certainly want to know what happened.”

The helicopter, from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264 based at New River Air Station, was participating in routine training when the hard landing occurred, according to officials.

This Cobra was one of four from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 assigned to HMM-264 on June 10 to complement a reinforced version of 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment with command and service support personnel to create the 26th MEU.

The 58-foot long Cobra is armed with a 20 mm turret cannon and can be fitted with rockets or a variety of air-to-ground or air-to-air missiles to reach a maximum combat weight of 14,750 pounds.

The gunship, which can travel nearly 170 mph, is designed to protect ground troops or to ride shotgun for the entire MEU composite helicopter squadron that typically includes 12 CH-46 Sea Knights, six CH-53E Super Stallions, two UH-1 Hueys and six AV-8B Harriers in addition to the four Cobras.

Thus far, officials are treating the mishap as an isolated incident and said they did not anticipate grounding the Corps’ fleet of nearly 200 Super Cobras.

Since forming as a unit in early June, the 26th MEU has been preparing for its integration training at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia next month, the first opportunity for the ground, aviation, support and command elements to work together. The units are scheduled to train together in a series of exercises before a six-month deployment beginning in early 2003.