Marines Will Ground Aircraft, Check Safety Because of Crashes

Alarmed by a series of recent accidents at military installations, including several in California, the Marine Corps has decided to ground nearly all of its airplanes and helicopters for 48 hours next week while it conducts safety inspections and reviews training programs.

The directive announced Thursday follows a series of six separate accidents in the last month in which 12 people were killed and one remains missing. Several of the accidents occurred during training exercises at the Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms installations in Southern California.

“It is imperative we identify weaknesses and correct them immediately,” Gen. Carl E. Mundy, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a message to corps commanders around the world.

“At a minimum, I want to look at training standards, personal qualifications, maintenance practices and flight leadership training and certification.”

All aircraft will be grounded Monday and Tuesday except the HMX-1 helicopter assigned to President Clinton in Washington and the Marine FA-18s based in Aviano, Italy, that are used to support Operation Deny Flight--which enforces the “no-fly zone” over Bosnia.