Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2005 13:58:13 GMT -6
El Pasoan survives Apache helicopter crash
Diana Washington Valdez - El Paso Times
An El Paso man escaped serious injury when the Apache helicopter he was flying in was forced to crash-land during maneuvers at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.
Army 1st Lt. Thomas Shippee, 26, a gunner on the helicopter, was released from a military hospital after being treated for minor injuries.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division Aviation Brigade, told the Killeen Daily Herald that the AH-64D Apache Longbow that Shippee was riding in made "a precautionary landing at Fort Hood on (Sept. 16) following an engine failure."
Military officials are investigating the cause of the accident, which led to the aviation brigade's third helicopter crash in less than a year. A soldier was killed in July when another Apache helicopter crashed near Belton Lake, Texas, and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed, killing seven people, after hitting a TV tower cable near Waco, the newspaper reported.
"I'm glad my son is all right and that he only received minor injuries," said Gerald Shippee of El Paso. "He's doing OK, and his unit is getting ready to go to Iraq. He was in El Paso earlier this year to celebrate his son's birthday with the rest of the family here."
Thomas Shippee graduated from Andress High School in 1998, and from Texas Tech University in 2003.
He is a helicopter pilot but was operating as the gunner Friday during a training exercise with the 4th Brigade Combat Team in Fort Hood, a major Army installation outside Killeen, Texas.
Gerald Shippee said that from what he knows about the accident, the helicopter his son was riding in crashed after falling through trees in a wooded area. "It came out in the news that the rotor blades broke and the engine blew out," he said. "It could have been worse."
Fort Hood officials were unavailable for comment late Sunday.
Diana Washington Valdez - El Paso Times
An El Paso man escaped serious injury when the Apache helicopter he was flying in was forced to crash-land during maneuvers at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.
Army 1st Lt. Thomas Shippee, 26, a gunner on the helicopter, was released from a military hospital after being treated for minor injuries.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division Aviation Brigade, told the Killeen Daily Herald that the AH-64D Apache Longbow that Shippee was riding in made "a precautionary landing at Fort Hood on (Sept. 16) following an engine failure."
Military officials are investigating the cause of the accident, which led to the aviation brigade's third helicopter crash in less than a year. A soldier was killed in July when another Apache helicopter crashed near Belton Lake, Texas, and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed, killing seven people, after hitting a TV tower cable near Waco, the newspaper reported.
"I'm glad my son is all right and that he only received minor injuries," said Gerald Shippee of El Paso. "He's doing OK, and his unit is getting ready to go to Iraq. He was in El Paso earlier this year to celebrate his son's birthday with the rest of the family here."
Thomas Shippee graduated from Andress High School in 1998, and from Texas Tech University in 2003.
He is a helicopter pilot but was operating as the gunner Friday during a training exercise with the 4th Brigade Combat Team in Fort Hood, a major Army installation outside Killeen, Texas.
Gerald Shippee said that from what he knows about the accident, the helicopter his son was riding in crashed after falling through trees in a wooded area. "It came out in the news that the rotor blades broke and the engine blew out," he said. "It could have been worse."
Fort Hood officials were unavailable for comment late Sunday.