The Army National Guard has temporarily grounded all of its helicopters after back-to-back AH-64 Apache helicopter crashes this month, one of which was fatal for the two pilots.
Last week, an Apache crashed in northern Mississippi, killing its two-soldier crew. In a separate incident Feb. 12, there was another Apache crash near Salt Lake City, Utah. Both pilots survived, a rarity in rotary-wing aircraft crashes.
“We are a combat force with helicopters training or on mission worldwide every day,” Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, director of the Army National Guard, said in a statement Tuesday. “Safety is always at the top of our minds. We will stand down to ensure our crews are prepared as well as possible for whatever they're asked to do.”
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The news comes after a series of helicopter mishaps across most of the services, highlighting mounting concerns over the basic safety of rotary craft — including how those platforms are maintained and training procedures for pilots.
In the National Guard, pilots fly significantly less than is considered optimal. Between 2017 and 2019, the bulk of Guard pilots flew about five hours per month when about seven is the bare minimum and nine is considered optimal, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
The stand-down is to “review safety policies and procedures,” according to a press…
