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Post by Admin on Feb 25, 2009 14:34:02 GMT -6
Helicopter pilot identified in fatal N.C. crash MOYOCK, N.C.
The pilot killed in Tuesday’s helicopter crash at the former Blackwater Worldwide headquarters was a decorated Army veteran with more than 10,000 hours of flight time.
Glen H. Wenzel, an instructor, died on Tuesday afternoon in a training mission at the company’s headquarters, know as the U.S. Training Center, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The company, now known as Xe, did not release Wenzel’s age or hometown.
A skid from the “Little Bird” helicopter caught on an object and flipped the aircraft, killing the Wenzel and injuring the student passenger. The passenger was not seriously injured, and the company has not released his name.
Wenzel began his aviation career in the Army, where he earned the Army Commendation Medal, Humanitarian Medal, and 500 Hour Aviation Safety Award, said company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell. He held an airline transport pilot certificate, certified flight instructor certificate and licenses for airframe and power plant, Tyrrell said. He had registered about 2,500 hours instructing students in helicopters and planes.
The military contractor has a fleet of more than 70 airplanes and helicopters under a subsidiary known as Presidential Airways. The crashed helicopter was a Hughes 639-F built in 1984, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
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