National Guard orders aviation safety pause after Apache crashes
By Davis Winkie
Tuesday, Feb 27
The Army National Guard’s top officer ordered a component-wide pause on flight missions Monday after a pair of AH-64D Apache helicopter crashes this month, according to a release.
Units across the Guard’s 54 states and territories will “review safety policies and procedures” following the deadly Feb. 23 crash of a Mississippi National Guard Apache helicopter and the Feb. 12 crash of a Utah National Guard Apache.
Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen, the Army National Guard’s director, said the stand down aims to “ensure all of our crews are prepared as well as possible for whatever they’re asked to do.” The release did not specify how long the pause will last. The move comes less than a year after a rare Army-wide safety stand down in April 2023 ordered by then-chief Gen. James McConville after a pair of mid-air collisions killed 12 soldiers.
Army officials have not revealed the causes of the respective crashes, though the service’s safety-focused Combat Readiness Center is probing the incidents.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2024/02/27/national-guard-orders-aviation-safety-pause-after-apache-crashes/
