Lawsuit filed in fatal Hunter Army Airfield helicopter crash

[unhappycamper]

http://savannahnow.com/news/2014-09-08/lawsuit-filed-fatal-hunter-army-airfield-helicopter-crash

Lawsuit filed in fatal Hunter Army Airfield helicopter crash
Posted: September 8, 2014 - 4:00pm | Updated: September 9, 2014 - 9:17am
By Russ Bynum | The Associated Press

SAVANNAH — A lawsuit filed Monday blames civilian makers of an Army Black Hawk helicopter for a fatal crash in Georgia eight months ago, saying manufacturers failed to install a tiny part that caused the tail rotor to malfunction and sent the aircraft spinning out of control.

The Jan. 16 crash during a training flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah killed the co-pilot, 30-year-old Capt. Clayton O. Carpenter of Brooklyn, New York, and seriously injured two other crew members onboard — the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jon Ternstrom of Walnut Creek, California, and the crew chief, Spc. Cameron Witzler of Clarksville, Tennessee.

The crew belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as the Night Stalkers. The elite unit trains soldiers to fly helicopters behind enemy lines under cover of darkness and was responsible for flying Navy SEALs into Pakistan during the 2010 raid in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but has a battalion stationed in Savannah.

Carpenter's mother and the two surviving soldiers filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in California against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., which manufactured the Black Hawk, and other companies involved in the design and manufacture of the helicopter's components. They are seeking unspecified damages from the companies, which are based in or registered to do business in California.