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Kadena HH-60 helicopters, crews ready to resume flight

  • Published
  • By 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --   Kadena Air Base hosted an information day for government officials, civic leaders and members of the media Aug. 14, ahead of resuming HH-60G flight operations Aug 16.

The 18th Wing began an immediate stand down of the unit to conduct a thorough safety inspection as a result of the accident that occurred Aug. 5. The stand-down inspection involved more than 200 service members from the 33rd Rescue Squadron and 718th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's 33rd Helicopter Maintenance Unit reviewing inspection and training processes.

"This was a truly tragic event, and we deeply regret any anxiety it has caused locally and throughout Japan," said Brig. Gen. James Hecker, 18th Wing commander. "In both of our communities - civilian and military - an accident of this nature is of concern and we take it seriously."

As a result of the stand down, each operational HH-60 on station was inspected three times by increasingly experienced maintainers (journeyman, craftsman, quality assurance specialists) before being cleared for operation. The total inspection time was 96 hours, during which 196 items were inspected three different times by independently operating maintenance experts.

Each of the 60 air crew members of the unit received an additional three hours of ground-based refresher instruction on the key tactical skills necessary to conduct the training that had been planned for the day of the accident.

"To this point, we have found no evidence that would indicate a fleet wide concern," Hecker said. "Our investigation will continue in order to identify the specific cause of last week's accident, but because of our very thorough inspection of every aircraft and the additional aircrew instruction we conducted, we are confident in our ability to safely resume operational and training flights."

At approximately 4 p.m. on Aug. 5, a U.S. Air Force helicopter, an HH-60G belonging to the 33rd Rescue Squadron, crashed deep inside the Central Training Area in Okinawa Prefecture. Emergency search and rescue personnel from the USAF and U.S. Marine Corps responded immediately to rescue the downed crew and contain the fire.

Three of the four crew members were rescued and treated by medical personnel at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa. The following day, human remains were found at the crash site. On Aug. 9, after assessing the evidence from the crash site, the unit commander made the difficult decision to declare the fourth crew member, Technical Sgt. Mark Smith, deceased.

Here in Japan, the 33rd Rescue Squadron is most recently known for its role in providing disaster relief and search and rescue functions during Operation Tomodachi following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated mainland Japan. Both the 33rd and 31st Rescue Squadrons maintain mission readiness levels to meet Dept. of Defense-mandated short-notice deployments throughout the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.

The Pave Hawk's primary mission is to conduct day or night personnel recovery operations. It also supports civil search and rescue, medical evacuation, disaster response and humanitarian assistance.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. More details will be released as they become available.