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  • 2 Soldiers Die In Wheeler Chopper Crash

    Kiowa Chopper Crashes During Routine Training Exercise

    POSTED: 3:46 pm HST May 27, 2009
    UPDATED: 6:57 am HST May 28, 2009

    A second soldier aboard a military helicopter that crashed at Wheeler Army Airfield on Wednesday died, Army officials said.

    The Kiowa OH-58D chopper crashed during a "general maintenance test flight" at about 3:30 p.m. on the base, Army officials said. The crew was performing an "auto rotation maneuver," in which the pilot simulates a stall and works to pull out of it, officials said.

    The crash left one person dead at the scene. Paramedics treated the other person and transported the man to a local hospital, where he later died.

    Investigators said are trying to determine what caused the crash.

    Officials said the identities of the deceased are being withheld until the families of the victims have been notified.

    Army officials released a statement Wednesday saying, "Our prayers and condolences are with the families of the pilots."

    The Kiowa Warrior is a single-engine, double-bladed aircraft. It has been used in the wars in Iraq.

    It can be used in transport of cargo and was the first Army helicopter to have an all glass cockpit.

    The Kiowas are slated for replacement. An Army Web site said there are about 375 still in service.

    This is the first fatal helicopter crash involving Wheeler choppers on Oahu since February 2001. Two Blackhawk helicopters collided on Oahu’s North Shore. That crash killed six Schofield Barracks soldiers and injured 11 others.

    In March 1996, a Cobra gunship helicopter crashed on Schofield Barracks killing the two personnel on board.
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