The letter requested further info on recent issues with helicopters, including total figures for incidents and whether there were any common themes to the causes.Īrmy officials have said that they don't see a connection between flight hours and accidents. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier this month. 'If we have known issues with certain helicopters, we need to know so we can resource your Department in a manner that protects the lives of our brave women and men in uniform,' Sen.

The crash in March involving the 101st Airborne was one of the deadliest non-combat incidents in the Army's history and, while it's unclear what caused it, it is one of many fatal helicopter crashes outside of a war zone in the past decade leading to new scrutiny on whether the service's helicopters are safe and its pilot training adequate. Aviation units were tasked with reviewing maintenance of their crafts and going over safety procedures.

James McConville, the Army's top officer, ordered a safety stand-down following back-to-back high-profile helicopter crashes: one involving two Black Hawks that killed nine 101st Airborne Division troops and another in Alaska in which three soldiers were killed and a fourth injured when two AH-64 Apaches collided.

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