The Pentagon said at least 14 American servicemen were killed and two remained hospitalized in critical condition following a collision between two U.S. Marine Corps helicopters taking part in massive military exercises in North Carolina early Friday morning. The accident occurred in the middle of a mock invasion of North Carolina. It was the largest United States exercise in decades, involving more than 50,000 troops from the United States and Britain . When dozens of helicopters are in the air at once, a commander's biggest worry is a mid-air collision. This sort of training is supposed to help soldiers learn to avoid such an accident.
Civilians often underestimate both the value of such exercises and the danger involved.
Under a typical training scenario, the AM-1 Cobra gunship , with a crew of two, would have flown in first to practice suppressing enemy ground fire. Its maneuver would have cleared the way for the CH-46 Sea Knight , a twin rotor transport helicopter, which in this case was carrying at least 12 Marines, a Navy sailor, and an Army soldier. It is not yet known why the choppers collided. We had a half moon. I do not believe that weather was a factor, although I would not want to speculate or rule out any cause.