3 JDF soldiers injured in helicopter crash

Saturday, November 21, 2009 1:52 PM

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Thursday, July 02, 2009

THREE soldiers were yesterday admitted to hospital when a Jamaica Defence Force helicopter crashed at the army's Up Park Camp headquarters in Kingston.

The JDF, in a press release, said the army was investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash which took place during a training exercise about 12:30 in the afternoon.

"The chief of defence staff has already ordered a board of inquiry to be convened to determine the cause of the accident, and an independent flight safety investigation will also be conducted," the army release said.

"A technical team from the aircraft manufacturers, Bell Helicopter, based in Texas, is expected in the island on Friday to assist with the investigation to determine the cause of the accident," the release added.

According to Major Ricardo Blackwood of the army's Civil/Military Co-operation and Media Affairs division, the soldiers' injuries were not life-threatening.

"A flight surgeon is at the hospital with them and all he said before he went inside the hospital was that they were stable," Blackwood told the Observer yesterday afternoon.

The JDF did not release the names and ranks of the injured soldiers, but said no civilians were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash.

"Onboard the aircraft at the time of the crash were the captain, his co-pilot and a crew member," the release said.

"We have to inform their families first. We have been getting hundreds of calls as people want to find out if their relative was involved in the incident," Blackwood said.

The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and lay in a crumpled heap on its side in a field close to the air hangar yesterday.

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