News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: US Pacific Command Statement

Date: October 31, 2001

"UNITED STATES
PACIFIC COMMAND

NEWS RELEASE #025-01
October 10, 2001

USPACOM concludes MI-17 helicopter accident collateral investigation

U.S. Pacific Command Public Affairs

CAMP H.M. SMITH, HAWAII -- A collateral investigation of the MI-17 helicopter crash that killed 16 people on April 7 in Vietnam, has been completed. Each of the next of kin has been given an opportunity to be personally briefed on the investigation results. Although exact details of the accident may never be known, a report by an U.S. investigator indicates that deteriorating weather conditions, poor visibility and the pilot’s failure to properly react to the changing weather conditions were all predominant factors in the accident.

Based on these results, U.S. Pacific Command has lifted the moratorium on passenger use of the MI-17, with safety modifications in Vietnam and Laos. Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) uses the MI-17 on missions in hopes of recovering remains leading to the identification of American servicemen still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

On April 7, seven Americans and nine Vietnamese died when their Russian-made MI-17 helicopter crashed into a mountain in Quang Binh province, Vietnam. The crew was surveying potential sites for full-scale excavations to recover the remains of Americans who are missing from the Vietnam War.

This tragic accident is a deep loss for Pacific Command and the American and Vietnamese people."