At 11:36 p.m., PST, May 19, an HH-60 Seahawk helicopter went down off the coast of Southern California while conducting training operations with USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
The helicopter was from Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron (HS) 6 located in San Diego. HS 6 is part of Carrier Air Wing 11 assigned to the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.
There were five crew members on board. Three are confirmed deceased. The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy continue search and rescue efforts for the remaining two crew members. Names of the crew members are not being released until notification of next of kin.
Five families are having a very bad day.
Even today, so many of us take for granted the cost paid by those who defend us, and those they leave behind.
Lex/
My comments and feelings are the same as I made for that Navy diver who survived several combat tours only to perish in tng not long ago that you posted about. Little does the general public know or appreciate the daily dangers of much routine training……
Yeah,
I just read that on the news. I really hate this part of the story. Brings back memories.
God bless ‘em all.
Terrible news, just terrible.
May God bless their souls.
Thanks for the post, Lex. At times like this there is no differentiation between jet, helo, prop, or community. We all have just become a little poorer because the currency of freedom is always the men and women that give their all to provide and defend.
May the Good Lord provide comfort to their families.
I’m very sorry to hear about this.
A sobering reminder that even out of combat, those who defend us risk their lives while perfecting their craft.
My prayer is that the Lord would guide, protect, comfort, and encourage their families; as well as their shipmates.
Rest in peace.
Co-worker’s old Squadron. Thoughts and prayers.
This has given me comfort, may it give the HS6 families comfort as well…
Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid’st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.
Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky,
Be with them always in the air,
In dark’ning storms or sunlight fair.
O, Hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.
Aloft in solitudes of space,
Uphold them with Thy saving grace.
Thou Who supports with tender might
The balanced birds in all their flight.
Lord, if the tempered winds be near,
That, having Thee, they know no fear.
O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoe’er we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Always in our thoughts.
I am incredibly thankful for the service and sacrifice of our military. Our prayers are with the families and the friends of those lost.
Reading “American Heroes” by Oliver North today. I am reminded that these crewmembers are indeed heroes as are the men and women in uniform that share the dangers and privations of military service on our behalf.
Our prayers for the families and friends.
When I was pulling duty in Nam we lost more out of combat in “training accidents” than in combat! I don’t know if you are more on edge, but the losses and faces of my fellow Naval Aviators still haunts me to this day and to hear the cries of the grieving widows still echoes in my ears. You never get totally over it when you realize their sons and daughters will miss all those experiences we take for granted as a family. I guess they symbolize to all of us how precious life is and what sometimes are the ultimate sacrifices made by those whom put on the uniform and serve.
Definately a different vibe down on the flight line today. Everyone felt it. Those guys are gonna be missed.
F4Jock,
I hear you. Up here at NAS Brunswick, back in 77/78, we lost 3 P-3′s with all aboard in an 18 month period. All were unrelated events, but the loss of so many in such a relatively short period of time was felt hard throughout the community.
It’s tough when you know them personally, and especially their families.
respects,
This is the second helo-related loss in San Diego in two weeks–two Marines out of Miramar went down with their aircraft on the 6th (iirc).
NAS Whiting Field auditorium. Capt Dickerson, A-7 bubba. “Gentlemen, welcome to the birthplace of Naval Aviation. Look to your left. Look to your right. One of those men will not be here in a year. They will have quit or been washed out. Of those remaining, look to the left, look to the right. One of those will be killed or seriously hurt in a Naval aircraft mishap before you end your career”. We all thought “not me, man”. After 22 years and 6 funerals, he was spot on. Unfortunately.
While many that I know personally have been spared death (thankfully due to some timely decisions to eject and blind ass luck), the sight of an S-3 launcing off Cat 3, then essentially rolling to the left, almost inverted before seeing the rear ejection seats fire directly into the water, is something that my brain will never allow me to forget…
Ever aviator worth his salt echos G-man’s words “Not me, man”… but over the course of their careers (unless they were delusional), they all had something happen to them, that if not for blind assed luck, would have ended them…
For me, I recall with all clarity a night FAC(A) mission in B-19 where my pilot and I had an extremely close and undesired pass with a Hornet. It was so close the sound of his engines were the first thing to indicate to us that a plane was anywhere nearby. He passed us slightly right to right and above us… a couple of feet this way or that, a little more or less press on the controls from either aircraft and we all would have ceased to exist…
My brother is on this carrier. I feel totally blessed that he is safe and for what he and the other crew members are doing for our country!