Earlier this week, a tragedy took place in the air east of Healy, Alaska — a small town that is itself southwest of Fairbanks. A helicopter crash killed three soldiers and sent a fourth to the hospital. In the aftermath of the crash, the F.A.A. announced the grounding of helicopters in the region — and the Army took an especially dramatic step to prevent further incidents like this one.
According to a report released by Fort Wainwright, three three soldiers killed in the crash were assigned to the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation at Fort Wainwright. The aforementioned report identified the three soldiers as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Robert Eramo, age 39; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kyle D. McKenna, age 28; and Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment, age 32.
“Our mission now is to focus on the families, the survivors and to honor and cherish their memories. Chris, Kyle, and Stew will forever be ‘Little Bears,’ ‘Vikings,’ and ‘ToughOnes’ of the Arctic Attack,” said 1-25th AB commander Lt.Col. Matthew C. Carlsen in a statement.
The Anchorage Daily News has been reporting on the crash since last week, and recently published a detailed look at the aftermath of the crash. The crash involved two Apache helicopters, both of which were returning to the base after a training mission had concluded.
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The death is currently under investigationIn response to this crash and a fatal crash in Kentucky earlier in the year, the Anchorage Daily News reports, resulted in Army Chief of Staff James McConville ordering that anyone taking part in a non-critical airborne mission complete required training beforehand. The Army is continuing its investigation of the Alaskan crash to determine what went wrong — and, hopefully, how events like this can be prevented in the future.
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