Army’s top general says he expects 'immediate results' from aviation stand down
By COREY DICKSTEIN
STARS AND STRIPES • May 2, 2023
The Army’s top officer expects all the service’s helicopters to return to flying in the coming days after he ordered an Army-wide aviation stand down Friday following two recent crashes that killed 12 soldiers.
Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff, told Senate appropriators Tuesday that he had directed aviation units to pause all operations for at least 24 hours this week to go over all procedures, from maintenance and safety protocols to training plans and basic flight mechanics. McConville, a career aviation officer who has flown most of the helicopters in the Army’s inventory, said he had instructed top commanders to use a “crawl, walk, run” mentality to tackle the stand down this week.
“Realize that this is a very dangerous business and unlike maybe operating a vehicle close to a curb, with aviation if you make a mistake or something happens it can be very catastrophic, and we need to bring that safety philosophy … back into the cockpits and make sure we're able to do that,” he told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel during a hearing on the Army’s proposed $185.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget. “I think it's going to be over in the next couple of days … and we're expecting immediate results.”
https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2023-05-02/army-helicopters-crash-stand-down-9990258.html
