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Copter Deaths Traced to Pilot Error, Lack of Tower Lights

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From Staff and Wire Reports

The crash of an Army National Guard helicopter on the U.S.-Mexico border in October that killed eight men was the result of both pilot error and an unlighted electrical tower, an inquiry has concluded.

The chopper, which carried five Southern California lawmen on a night surveillance for drug smugglers, went down after striking the electrical tower, a report by the National Guard’s adjutant general’s office said. There were no survivors.

The report said the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Geofrey L. Nett, 42, of Chino, descended to below 500 feet despite warnings of high-tension wires in the area. But Nett and his co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Eric J. Smeltzer, 29, of Rialto, did not act in a knowingly negligent manner, the study concluded.

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“I don’t think the facts justify a finding that they knowingly were flying too low,” said a spokesman, Lt. Col. William F. Weir. “They were flying at what they thought was a proper altitude.”

The report also called for all similar electrical towers more than 200 feet tall to be illuminated.

Investigators believe the crew from the multiagency task force was intent on watching what was thought to be a suspicious vehicle when it struck the tower. The vehicle proved to be a Border Patrol truck.

Also killed were Air National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Ramon N. Espinoza, 38, of Westminster; Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Steven Tonkin, 31, of Chino; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy James McSweeney, 43, of Huntington Beach; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Roy Chester, 41, of La Verne; Imperial County Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard G. Romero, 39, of El Centro and Riverside County Sheriff’s Investigator Michael Davis, 34, of Indio.

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