AF Denies Night Goggles Caused Helicopter Crash That Killed 15

The pilot and crew of an Air Force helicopter that plunged into the Arizona desert near Tucson, killing all 15 aboard, were using night-vision goggles, but the goggles did not contribute to the crash, Air Force officials said Monday.

The Air Force also denied eyewitness reports that the Vietnam-era CH-3E Jolly Green Giant copter was flying at a very low altitude at the time of the crash and explosion Sunday night.

The aircraft, with four crew members, was transporting 11 Army personnel from Ft. Bragg, N. C., on a 200-mile flight from Ft. Huachuca to a night training mission at the Gila Bend Air Force gunnery range.

Goggles Linked to Crashes

The goggles--light-enhancing devices--have been linked to at least 60 military crashes involving 107 fatalities in the last decade and will be the subject of a congressional safety hearing next week.

Rep. Frank McCloskey, (D-Ind.) Monday issued an immediate request for information about the Arizona crash and renewed his call for suspension of all military night training missions involving goggles until the technology can be reviewed.

Military investigators Monday combed the site of the crash in an unpopulated area near the Saguaro National Monument, about 20 miles northwest of Tucson, for additional clues to the cause of the crash.

Air Force officials could not confirm one witness’ report that “a yellow ball, like flames” was coming from the rear of the aircraft before the crash. A fuel spill after impact caused an explosion that burned the helicopter, said Air Force Sgt. Jill Archer of the nearby Davis Monthan Air Force Base.

“Night goggles were being used, but they were not a factor in the accident,” Archer said. The accident occurred on a clear, windless night, illuminated by at least a quarter moon and in conditions approved for use of night-vision goggles, according to Archer.

David Rosenthal, an Army flight engineer who has been asked to testify at the congressional hearing, said Monday that the goggles can be dangerous because they eliminate peripheral vision and reduce contrast. Contrast can help pilots distinguish between shadows and trees or mountains.

A study by Rosenthal that was published in the May, 1987, edition of Flightfax, an Army safety newsletter, concluded that night-vision goggles used in poor illumination accounted for 86% of all serious Army helicopter crashes from 1980 to 1987 and 90% of all fatalities.

A staff member of the investigations subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee said that the inquiry will focus on whether the goggles’ use is restricted to nights when there is at least a quarter moon at least 30 degrees above the horizon, as military field guidelines require, and whether crew members are properly trained in the use of the light-enhancing devices.

“The key question is are the night vision goggles technically capable of allowing the pilots to do what they are required to do, and whether the goggles create an illusion that lulls the pilot into thinking he can see great,” said a committee staff member who asked not to be named. “A lot of these crashes are said to be pilot error--but are they really pilot error?”

“These goggles give only a 40% field of view, so peripheral cues are nonexistent for pilots,” said Rosenthal, a reserve pilot who works at the China Lake Naval Weapons Station near Barstow, Calif. “Even under some of the best illumination, contrast is different, so it is hard for pilots to (distinguish) between shadow and obstacles such as trees or mountains.” The subcommittee hearings will begin on March 21.

Crew members killed in Sunday’s crash were all Air Force Reserve officers from Arizona, according to Archer.