U.S. Military Helicopter Safety: Rhetoric and Reality

Colin Powell’s Response to the
Okinawa International University Helicopter Crash

“Well, if there is not an air base there won’t be accidents, but there is always the possibility of an accident of this type at any air base, whether it’s civilian or military. And we do everything we can to fly safely, to make sure our equipment is safe and our helicopters are safe and well-maintained and our pilots are well trained. And, as I say, we regret this incident and we will get to the bottom of it to find out what happened and make sure we are taking every precaution so that something like [the helicopter crash at Okinawa International University] does not happen again.”

– US Secretary of State Colin Powell speaking to Fuji TV, August 13, 2004
   (emphasis added).

   Examining the following evidence, we think you will agree that Colin Powell is correct in saying that there is always the possibility of an accident, especially where US military helicopters are involved. Looking beyond the rhetoric, though, what exactly have US military authorities and their political overseers been doing to ensure helicopter safety at Futenma, a helicopter base which is situated in the middle of a city of 90,000 people, surrounded by other municipalities which are home to hundreds of thousands more?

   Is “taking every precaution” good enough? Before taking a look at some helicopter accident statistics, let’s first see what kind of helicopters are being used at Futenma.

1. Helicopters Stationed at Futenma Air Base
2. CH-53 Crashes Due to Mechanical Failure 2002-Present
3. AH-46 Sea Knight Crashes
4. AH-1W Super Cobra and UH-1N Iroquois Crashes
5. Business as Usual
6. US Military Helicopter Deaths 2001-2003
7. "Safe and Well Maintained" Helicopters?
8. Conclusions

Helicopters Stationed at Futenma Air Base

   For more details on aircraft types at Futenma see our Futenma Aircraft and Other Futenma Aircraft pages.

CH-53 Crashes Due to Mechanical Failure 2002-Present

   Next let’s consider the CH-53D Sea Stallion, the type of helicopter which crashed at OIU. The following are recent CH-53D/E helicopter crashes attributed to mechanical failure or other causes not including enemy fire from 2002 to 2004.¹

   US forces clearly took no action after the crash in Iraq which occurred just two days before the Okinawa International University crash. The CH-53s were not even temporarily grounded. The Iraq crash involved a CH-53D: exactly the same aircraft type. Is this what Colin Powell means by, "taking every precaution" and doing "everything we can to fly safely?"

AH-46 Sea Knight Crashes

   Next, let’s take a look at CH-46 helicopter crashes attributed to mechanical failure or other causes not including enemy fire 1997-2004.¹

   AH-46 Sea Knights at M.C.A.S. Futenma were not grounded after any of these crashes.

AH-1W Super Cobra and UH-1N Iroquois Crashes

   The following are AH-1W Super Cobra and UH-1N Iroquois (Huey) helicopter crashes attributed to mechanical failure or other causes not including enemy fire 1997-2004.¹

   Again, no Iroquois or Super Cobra helicopters were grounded at M.C.A.S. Futenma after any of these crashes.

Business as Usual

   The U.S. military uses numerous types of helicopters. Lets take a look at some grim statistics for just a two month period last year. These are U.S. military helicopter crashes attributed to mechanical failure or other causes not including enemy fire (March-April 2003 - all helicopter types)

US Military Helicopter Deaths 2001-2003³

   What causes most deaths in U.S. military helicopter crashes: enemy fire or the helicopters themselves? Add up the numbers for the the past three years, and what kind of picture do they paint?

Deaths due to accidents:   60 (89.5%)
Deaths due to hostile fire:    7 (10.5%)

"Safe and Well Maintained" Helicopters?

"Marine Corps aviation is literally falling apart." - military analyst and former US Marine Corps officer, Carlton Meyer (2002)

   The numbers tell us that U.S. military helicopters are far more dangerous than we are led to believe. Writing in the online warfare research quarterly G2mil in 2002, editor and former Marine Corps officer Carlton Meyer stated, "Marine Corps aviation is literally falling apart." Meyer went on to call for the scrapping of what he described as "the dying CH-53Ds."
   He also identified more general problems. Among these were soaring maintenance costs associated with the fact that, "most aircraft are near the end of their life spans." The helicopters at Futenma, including all CH-53s and CH-46s and are among the oldest used by US forces. Yet they are actually considered by many in the military to be their most reliable helicopter models.
   Further, No Fly Zone has learned from reliable sources within the US military in Okinawa that maintenance crews at Futenma are among the least experienced in the US military, with some personnel being as young as 19.
  Could 19-year-old maintenance personnel possibly have gained sufficient experience to discharge their duties safely, and how can this incendiary cocktail of aging and dangerous helicopters and inexperienced maintenance crews possibly be regarded as "safe?"

Conclusions

   For people here in Okinawa, the conclusions are painfully obvious. We believe it is clear that the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is more concerned with public relations than public safety when he makes the claim that "our equipment is safe and our helicopters are safe and well-maintained." Given the US military's past record of negligence and inaction, we also consider the assertion that the US military is "taking every precaution so that something like [this] does not happen again" an insult to the Japanese public’s intelligence.

   On the other hand, we strongly support the Secretary of State's assertion that if there were no air base there would be no accidents, and this is why we demand the immediate and permanent cessation of all helicopter flights in and out of the base. We agree with Secretary Powell that the only way of ensuring there is no repeat of the Okinawa International University helicopter crash is to stop flying military helicopters over urban neighborhoods.

   We also believe that flying US military helicopters over densely populated urban residential areas in callous disregard of civilian lives is tantamount to an act of reckless endangerment. No government aviation agency in the world would tolerate a record of disaster like the one catalogued above. We believe that for hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens to continue to be exposed to this risk of disaster is absolutely reprehensible.
 
   Would military helicopters be allowed to train over densely populated urban areas in the United States itself? Emphatically not! Europe? Of course, not. Then, what degree of contempt toward citizens of a so-called ally does it take for U.S. Marine officers in Okinawa to think they can get away with it here?
 

¹ Other fatal and nonfatal crashes and emergency landings may have occurred but not been reported
   in the media.

2 As it is safe to assume the figures here relate primarily to helicopter crews rather than bystanders on
   the ground, it would seem fair to ask whether the U.S. military can even claim to be doing all it can to
   ensure the safety of its own military personnel.

 Sources:

Secretary Colin Powell's Interview with Toshiyuku Matsuyama of Fuji TV

US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s response to the crash in a Fuji Television interview on August 13. (13 August 2004)

Helicopter Crash in Anbar Province Claims Two Marines

American Forces Press Service report on CH-53 accident in Iraq on August 11, just two days before the same type of helicopter crashed into Okinawa International University. (12 August 2004).

Helicopter Crash in Anbar Province Claims Two Marines

Liberty Post's posting of the AFPS report on CH-53 accident in Iraq on August 11, just two days before the same type of helicopter crashed into Okinawa International University. (12 August 2004).

Why do US military helicopters crash so often?

US veterans’ site details 14 fatal helicopter crashes not involving enemy fire from October 2001 to April 2003. Of the 67 helicopter fatalities - not including those inflicted by US helicopter fire - only seven were the result of enemy fire. (currently offline)

Troops die in air 'accident'

BBC report of the CH-46 “air accident” in 2003. Eight British and Four American troops killed. (21 March 2003)

Nine Die in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan

US Coast Guard report on 2002 CH-53 helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Seven German peace keepers killed. (22 December 2002)

Pentagon may extend flight ban on 'heavy-lift' helicopters

CNN report on the grounding of four type of helicopter including the CH-53 due to “fears that the aircraft have a serious mechanical defect. (28 August 2000)

Two die in Afghan helicopter crash

CNN report into 2002 CH-53 crash in Afghanistan. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld remarks “it was very likely  … a mechanical failure.” (21 January 2002)

Helicopter crash kills 3 Marines

CNN report of 2001 CH-46 helicopter crash in North Carolina, killing three marines and injuring two others. (10 July 2001)

Missing Marines presumed dead after Pacific helicopter crash

CNN report after 1999 CH-46 crash. Seven US marines missing presumed dead. (1999 December 11)

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