Dead and Injured in Marine Helicopter Crash Identified

Officials at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin on Saturday identified the four Marines who were killed and a fifth who was injured in a helicopter crash Friday near Twentynine Palms.

The dead are the pilot, Capt. Michael D. James, 33, of Phoenix; the crew chief, Sgt. Dulles H. Arnett, 25, of Silver Spring, Md.; the first mechanic, Lance Cpl. Michael A. Weaver, 20, of Belle Vernon, Pa., and a passenger, Capt. David R. McHugh, 29, of Ansley, Ala.

The co-pilot, 1st Lt. Andrew D. McClintock, 24, of Alexandria, Va., was in good condition at the Marine branch hospital at Twentynine Palms, said Lt. Tim Hoyle, public affairs officer at the Tustin air station.

Investigation Under Way

The accident, which occurred during training exercises, involved a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the Tustin base.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Marines’ Aircraft Mishap Board and the Judge Advocate General’s Investigation, Hoyle said.

Friday’s crash was the fifth for the Super Stallion in the nation in the past two years. The helicopter, manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Co. of Stratford, Conn., has the worst safety record of any helicopter of its kind flown by the Marines. Since 1981, 30 Marines from the Tustin facility have died in the Super Stallions or its smaller predecessor, the twin-engined CH-53D Sea Stallion, also built by Sikorsky.

‘Short-Term’ Grounding

Col. David Shuter, a commander at the base, ordered helicopters there grounded, but indicated that the “temporary suspension of operations would be short-term,” Hoyle said.

After a 1984 crash at Camp Lejeune, N.C., that killed six Marines the entire fleet of Super Stallions was grounded. The Marines ordered an investigation of previous crashes, the results of which were never released. The helicopters were permitted to fly again after a section of the tail rotors of the Super Stallions was inspected.

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), said that he had been assured by the Pentagon that the tail assemblies, reportedly a potential factor in several of the crashes, had been fixed.