After his son was killed in a Marine helicopter crash, a father says outdated technology robbed loved ones of answers
A Marine helicopter that crashed in Southern California last year, killing all five on board, was not equipped with a "black box" robbing families of the chance to find out what caused the disaster.
A Marine helicopter that slammed into a snowy mountain peak in Southern California last year, killing all five service members on board, was not equipped with a device that preserves flight data in a crash — a hindrance investigators say limited their probe and relatives fear has robbed them of ever finding out what caused the disaster.
The fatal nighttime flight on Feb. 6, 2024, occurred during a routine training mission and as a winter storm brought days of heavy rain and snow to the San Diego area.
An investigation report released this week shows that pilot error was the root cause of the crash, with icing conditions and low cloud cover being contributing factors. But investigators said they could only make assumptions since they had not found the aircraft’s memory cards that contain flight and maintenance data and because the helicopter did not have what’s known as a crash survivable flight data recorder.
Sgt. Alec Langen.Marine Corp. via APThe device, also known as a “black box,” would have provided key information, such as altitude and speed, and would have helped investigators reconstruct the events leading up to the incident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Federal law requires large commercial aircraft and some smaller ones to have one.The CH-53E Super Stallion that was carrying five young Marines, including one new father and another newlywed, did not have one, though some Marine helicopters do.
Without sufficient evidence, including voice recordings and even the exact weather conditions the crew faced, investigators offered “multiple realistic theories” of what might have happened, including the possibility that night-vision goggles prevented the pilots from seeing the peak.
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