Copter Crash in Asia Kills 4 Tustin-Based Marines

Four U.S. Marines based in Tustin were killed Friday when their helicopter exploded in midair and crashed during a training flight in Okinawa, a Marine Corps spokesman said.

A witness said the CH-53D Sea Stallion spouted gray smoke and exploded before crashing into a hillside at Camp Butler, the main Marine base on the Japanese island. It was the third fatal accident involving a Sea Stallion in Asia in the past 17 months, Marine officials said.

A spokesman for the Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin identified the victims as Capt. Neal T. Lippy, 27, of Littletown, Pa., the pilot; 1st Lt. Charles C. Alsworth Jr., 30, of Paradise Valley, Ariz., the co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy C. Walker, 25, of Muskogee, Okla., the crew chief, and Cpl. Charles R. Tyler Jr., 21, of Great Valley, N.Y., the first mechanic.

Due to Return in 3 Months

They were attached to Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 at the Tustin base, according to Staff Sgt. Vicki Conkel. They had been on a rotating assignment in Okinawa for the past six months and were due to return after another three months, she said.

The helicopter went down at about 1:15 p.m. (9:15 p.m. Thursday PDT) approximately 44 miles northeast of Naha, capital of Okinawa. The helicopter was assigned to the Futenma Marine Base near Naha, about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. Military officials said transmission problems were believed to be the cause of two previous crashes of CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters, which took the lives of 35 U.S. and South Korean servicemen.

A Sea Stallion bound for Futenma on May 6 plunged into the sea off southern Japan, killing all 17 Marines aboard. Minutes before the crash, the pilot radioed to another nearby helicopter that his aircraft was experiencing mechanical problems and he was returning to shore.

Another Sea Stallion crashed into a mountainside in South Korea on March 24, 1984, killing 18 U.S. Marines and 11 South Korean Marines. The aircraft was participating in maneuvers and was returning from a flight that was canceled because of bad weather when it crashed in the early morning darkness.

Out of Production

Marty Moore, an official with Sikorsky Aircraft Co. in Stratford, Conn., the firm which manufactured the Sea Stallion, said the aircraft has been out of production for at least five years.

Moore said because Sikorsky no longer manufactures the Sea Stallion, he was not aware of any serious mechnical problems connected with the aircraft. He added, however, that a Sikorsky mechanic went to the scene of Friday’s crash to assist in the military’s investigation.

The CH-53D is considered a “workhorse” helicopter used to transport both cargo and troops, Moore said. It can carry up to 38 servicemen in full combat gear.

In June, 1984, a CH-53E Super Stallion based in Tustin crashed into the sea about 11 miles off San Clemente Island, killing all four Marines aboard. The cause of the crash has not been determined.