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Soldiers, airmen on downed helicopter are identified

From staff and wire reports
Pacific edition, Sunday, February 24, 2002

Defense officials said that all 10 crewmembers aboard an MH-47E Chinook helicopter died in the Friday crash at sea in the southern Philippines.

According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the victims of the crash were: Maj. Curtis D. Feistner; Capt. Bartt D. Owens; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jody L. Egnor; Staff Sgt. James P. Dorrity; Staff Sgt. Kerry W. Frith; Staff Sgt. Bruce A. Rushforth Jr.; Sgt. Jeremy D. Foshee; Spc. Thomas F. Allison, all members of the U.S. Army. Also, Master Sgt. William L. McDaniel II and Staff Sgt. Juan M. Ridout, both members of the U.S. Air Force.

The soldiers are members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Fort Campbell, Ky. The Air Force members are assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Group, Kadena Air Base, Japan. …..

Three bodies were recovered and transported Friday night to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. Navy Officials said the U.S. is working closely with the Philippine navy and coast guard units to recover the remaining bodies.

The helicopter belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), known as the "Night Stalkers." Last summer, a unit of Night Stalker helicopters transferred to Taegu, South Korea, from its headquarters at Fort Campbell, Ky.

"We have found no survivors from the mishap aircraft," said Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, head of the U.S. contingent in the Philippines. "These were friends of mine, so it’s a difficult part of our jobs."

The bodies of three Americans killed in the crash of an Army helicopter in the southern Philippines Friday will be sent to Dover Air Force Base for processing by the Armed Forces Insitute of Pathology.

The bodies arrived on Okinawa late Friday night and were taken to the regional medical examiner’s office at the U.S. Naval Hospital on Camp Lester.

"We are making sure the bodies are being properly stored in a refrigerated condition to make the flight," said Navy Capt. Jimmy W. Green, the Regional Armed Forces Medical Examiner.

He said the processing is the procedure followed with victims of the fatal helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Pathologists in Washington, D.C., wanted the bodies on hand to perform whatever examinations are necessary before returning them to the next of kin.

The MH-47E apparently caught fire before plunging into the Mindanao Sea at 2:30 a.m. local time, witnesses said, under clear skies while en route to Mactan air base, a logistics base for an anti-terrorist training operation being conducted by U.S. and Philippine forces.

The cause of the crash was unknown, but early suspicions focused on mechanical failure; the Philippine military ruled out hostile fire.

The MH-47 crew had just finished flying troops and supplies from bases in the Philippine city of Zamboanga to staging areas on Basilan island, site of the counterterrorism drills.

The helicopter went down about 150 miles northeast of Zamboanga, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

Another MH-47 special operations helicopter was flying with the chopper that crashed; it remained in the area to conduct a search, along with other U.S. aircraft that were directed to the site.

Later Friday, a U.S. P-3 Orion maritime surveillance plane made an emergency landing at Mactan after one of its four engines developed problems. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Personnel at the 160th’s Company E in South Korea said Friday morning that they "cannot disclose" whether the company has any aircraft or personnel in the Philippines, but did say that some members of the unit are deployed.

Elmer Cato, former Visiting Forces Agreement Commission spokesman in the Philippines, said three MH-47 helicopters based in South Korea participated in the Balance Piston training exchange program that ended two weeks ago. Those helicopters had been at the former Clark Air Base in central Luzon since Jan. 14.

The Night Stalkers are trained to fly long-distance missions that bring special operations forces in and out of combat, especially at night. The regiment was involved in the 1993 Somalia incident depicted in the film "Black Hawk Down."

The soldiers deployed in the Philippines are principally from the 1st Special Forces Group, which is headquartered at Fort Lewis, Wash., according to Washington-based sources familiar with the exercise. First Special Forces Group also has a battalion based at Torii Station on Okinawa