UK HELICOPTER DOWN IN AFGHANISTAN
 

The MOD can confirm that a UK helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan today, 26 April 2014.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/m...rn-afghanistan

Thoughts with the families of those killed in the crash.

From the website link, a cue for the previous poster, who may be hard of thinking:

"The incident is under investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further until families have been notified."

Thoughts go to those involved.

Thoughts with the families and the guys at this time.

Well said nice castle.

TN.

Terrible news indeed. Thoughts with the families and friends.

Lewis, I echo nice castle's point. Unless that information is in the public domain you'd do well to keep your trap shut whether you're right or not. You may not be aware but there are processes and protocols for these awful things and these are other peoples' lives. Your ill-judged comment may have sent quite a few more people running for the telephone. :ugh::ugh::ugh:

Imgaylard

Your inappropriate and untimely post has to be one of the most thoughtless and insensitive I have ever seen on this site.

AFAIK the KINFORMING process is incomplete and yet you have announced a unit to the world via the many journos who follow this forum. "Hard of thinking" doesn't even come close.

:D:D:D

Note, BBC website updated with 'believed to be a Lynx' 3 minutes after your post appeared. Enough said.

UK HELICOPTER DOWN IN AFGHANISTAN
 

RIP - Devastated for your families.

BBC Trap Shut Too
 

Who told the BBC what it was 'believed to be!' Either they are just as bad as others for ill timed comment or speculation or someone close to the details has said too much too soon. MOD shouldn't comment on anything until process is complete - just shows how much the press will push to say something when saying nothing is the default position as a mark of respect.

If it was MOD then someone needs a good kicking.

Msoc, the original poster has rightly deleted the post, one would suggest you remove the type also until those that may get some lousy news have been informed..

MSOCS

I know, hence my use of 'a unit' not 'the unit'. I agree it should not have been mentioned!

Tailchase

BBC will probably have got the Lynx line from this thread (the update was within 3 mins of the post in question. They will definitely not have got the info from MOD, which has hard rules on what can and can't be released.

Nut loose, my post stands. It would do well to educate a few types who haunt these forums to let the military get on with their jobs and not 'stick their oar in' because they have a few contacts on the inside. However, what's done is done. I can only hope that the kin informing process was complete before any friends or family read Gaylard's post.

Enough.

Once again, my sincere thoughts with the families and loved ones of those lost today. RIP.

Journalistic Licence
 

Of course ' journalistic licence = fact from speculation' and Mr Beaver seems to be adding additional information of his own.

Nothing to say, so will move myself along.

Paul Beaver I believe has a TA (Lt Col?) role within AAC/JHC and is probably fully briefed and media savvy as one can be given that the probably as we all know that sadly the news may have to be broken ahead of families in this situation for factors we are unaware of at the moment. Maybe despite the best will and policies in the world some cannot help themselves but jump on social media (not just UK personnel based in Afg, but international forces/civvie contractors), or even the local population (majority with mobile phones and sufficient mobile coverage in the bundu) get the information to those that would seek to use it for their own purposes. Of course, if it is later discovered that it is an ill informed over zealous MoD duty officer then I am sure that there will be a follow up review.

It would be nice though if the BBC Defence correspondent Mr Beale could at least advise his news team that the picture being used on his BBC website covering his 'breaking' story was a Merlin.

But then again who cares, it is all still speculation until a Service Inquiry report and on the scale, a picture doesn't register at all.

Sad news.

Dear all.
I sincerely apologise for my unusual lack of tact in this matter.


It certainly was not my intention to upset or distress anyone on here and I didn't appreciate that family members may well be looking on this site for info.


I was just trying to be helpful passing on what I was told.


Once again I am sincerely sorry for any upset caused.

MaroonMan4,

That pic is actually a Puma (looks like a Super Puma actually with the stabiliser fin under the tail boom)...

Either way, yet another episode of the BBC using completely inappropriate pictures.

Beaver is no longer serving in any shape, manner or form.

Gaylard, I don't know you, or whether you're still serving, but if so, get some education by attending a PCMIO course. Thanks for deleting your earlier post. Well done for making an upfront apology rather than trying to justify yourself. Never do that again please.

Whatever mistakes have been made, our thoughts should be with all families who have loved ones serving in theatre at this time. It's sickening watching the press, particularly the BBC News 24/Sky News types battling to release speculation as "breaking news", perhaps we should all consider complaining about their unjustified haste, without formal confirmation. To me its sickening that the media in General would rather push out speculation and be wrong, than wait for the facts, and then report that correctly. It's especially egregious when done by the BBC. Of course none of this will console the next of kin when the official announcement is made, I for one offer my sincere condolences.

Smudge

There is a post on "Twitter" from a well known AAC unit naming the aircraft type. Don't feel the need to repeat it on here but if you feel the need to know then the info is there.

Here is Paul Beaver, the expert of choice lately for the Beeb, and the same expert who gave a radio interview after the recent Pedro Blackhawk crash in East Anglia. He was touted as an expert and former pilot, but went on to say that the Blackhawk had come down softy and that its blades were still intact !

BBC News - Five UK personnel die in Afghanistan helicopter crash

Sad to see it was a lynx

Just heard this news!!!!! So sad. RIP and thoughts to the families and friends.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news smuj, but in the era of electronic news gathering and 24 hours cable news the "prize" only goes to the first report, not the accurate report. The BBC are just as predatory as CNN or Fox in pi$$ng over the graves of the recently deceased to get the story. If you start by assuming they are all vermin and make the appropriate exceptions you won't go far wrong. That said, if there wasn't an appetite for this type of coverage among the chattering classes and Daily Mail readers it would be less prevalent.

However, I have now become as guilty as the others on this thread in making this story about reprehensible behaviour by those who should know better, rather than the real story of the loss of 5 comrades-in-arms.

RIP.

For all the media bashing, the details of this story had to have come from a serving member of the armed forces who was there to know.

Just watched the BBC news and the assumptions and comments made by the so called Military Specialist are awful!

The press can't be trusted at all:hmm:

I was the Seaking SAR Flt Cdr when the Chinook crashed on an air test. Unfortunately a local saw the crash and rang the UK to say a helicopter had crashed. The BBC then transmitted that a helicopter had crashed in the Falklands. As there were at least 3 types (Chinook, Seaking and S61) operating in theatre this would have caused great distress to any family who had men flying any of these types.

On returning from the SAROP I had to quickly contact 8 families to reassure them that there husbands etc were not involved. Fortunately, due to having up to date next of kin information, I was able to contact everybody before they heard the distressing news via the inconsiderate Falkland Islander and impatient BBC who didn't wait until they had accurate facts.

It is even worse now that information can be spread so quickly, then everything military went through only one source, the satellite dish outside Stanley. Normal troop communication was via the paper bluey:ok:

HF

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience HF, but as a member of the press myself I can assure you that we are not all cut from the same cloth. As in every walk of life, there are good and bad, and some people are just jerks.

Personally, I wouldn't release such information without having all the facts first, but then I don't write for a tabloid and I don't have the pressures of churning out 24/7 news.

Bringing it back to this particular case, like I said the detailed information had to have come from serving military in theatre. Good and bad in all walks...

Hummingfrog

My father was on the same flight as you at the time and my mother remembers the panic she had once she heard the news. She remembers dialling my father and getting the operator stating they couldn't put her through.

Thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.

Not disparaging anyone, but there are more than service personnel serving in theatre Melmothtw

Aware of that Nutloose, but on the balance of probability I'd say that the precise aircraft type and unit details that folks are (rightly) objecting to would have come from UK/NATO military.

Facts don't matter, only the headline. The BBC just showed a Blackhawk and a Chinook. The line was that the lynx was smaller than the Merlin and Chinook. The general public don't know and the press don't care. Try to understand what you are dealing with and don't take it too personally. Even if you complain, they couldn't give a toss.

It's sad, but these stories will always leak out.

With mobile phones, IPads etc almost instantly connecting to the WWW/Facebook/twitter it is only a matter of minutes before somebody back in the UK finds out.

RIP all on board.

RIP fellas. :(

Another five lives wasted in a lost cause as we come to the end of yet another fruitless campaign to add to those this country has fought in that benighted country in the last 150 years or so.

My own son came home safe from his time on ops there - five more sets of parents and loved ones are not going to be so lucky - my heart goes out to them.

Saturday night drinking and typing is never a good idea Gnd. Ranting on an anonymous forum isn't so bad, but please don't follow it up with an email to your boss telling him what you really think...

Words fail me Gnd..

Is Gnd short for Gonad?

R.I.P. guys