HH-3F AMI 15° Stormo crashed in France on 20081023

Rockville · Post by **Rockville** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:18

An Italian military helicopter has crashed in flames in eastern France, police in the region have said.

The helicopter was carrying seven or eight passengers and officials say there are "probably no survivors".

French police said the helicopter came down between the towns of Ligny-en-Barrois and Vaubecourt in the Meuse region.

The Italian defence ministry said that it had no immediate information about the crash.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2008/10/23 16:11:16 GMT

Phantom54 · Post by **Phantom54** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:29

Probably on his/their way to the TLP (CSAR Participant) at Florennes? Very sad news!

Menso van Westrhenen
http://www.milaviapress.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tintin · Post by **Tintin** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:45

Just found this in italian:

http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/mondo/arti ... 1000.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The AMI helicopter was an HH-3F with eight on board, all perished in the crash

Airborne from Dijon, it was in formation with another italian helicopter before falling in a field.
Reason unknown at the moment.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 23 Oct 2008, 19:15

(ANSA) - Rome, October 23 - An Italian military helicopter crashed near Strasbourg in eastern France on Thursday, killing all eight people on board. The HH3F helicopter had been taking part in a joint training xercise coordinated by Italy and France along with a second helicopter when the accident happened. Rescuers said the helicopter crashed in isolated countryside and exploded on impact.

and

The Associated Press Thursday, October 23, 2008

An Italian military helicopter carrying up to eight people crashed Thursday in northeastern France, killing all on board, local officials said.

The helicopter, one of two on its way from France to Belgium, went down about 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) in the Meuse region between the towns of Lisles-en-Barrois and Vaubecourt, police and officials said.

The second helicopter safely reached its destination, said Alexandra Petit, communications official for the prefecture of the Meuse region. She said it remained unclear whether the aircraft carried seven or eight people. In Rome, Italian Air Force Sgt. Emiliano Conte said the search-and-rescue helicopter, an HH3F, had been conducting a training exercise over France and Belgium.

Regards, Paul.

canberra · Post by **canberra** » 23 Oct 2008, 19:34

Paul wrote:
Phantom54 wrote:Probably on his/their way to the TLP (CSAR Participant) at Florennes? Very sad news!
No it wasn't..

Paul wrote:
The helicopter, one of two on its way from France to Belgium

Hmm

witje · Post by **witje** » 23 Oct 2008, 19:38

Also some other sources reported the helos were on the way to Florennes.

ebauer · Post by **ebauer** » 23 Oct 2008, 19:41

canberra wrote:
Paul wrote:
Phantom54 wrote:Probably on his/their way to the TLP (CSAR Participant) at Florennes? Very sad news!
No it wasn't..

Paul wrote:
The helicopter, one of two on its way from France to Belgium
Hmm

"Il velivolo, modello HH3F, con otto militari a bordo, era diretto da Digione (in Francia) a Florent (in Belgio), e stava viaggiando assieme a un altro elicottero italiano al termine di un'attività di "

Een uitsnede uit het Italiaanse artikel...Daar hoef je geen Italiaans voor te
kennen!

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 23 Oct 2008, 19:56

ebauer wrote:"Il velivolo, modello HH3F, con otto militari a bordo, era diretto da Digione (in Francia) a Florent (in Belgio), e stava viaggiando assieme a un altro elicottero italiano al termine di un'attività di "

Een uitsnede uit het Italiaanse artikel...Daar hoef je geen Italiaans voor te kennen!

Hmmm, toch zouden ze een oefening houden met Franse helicopters en daarvoor in Frankrijk zijn! Maar goed, die 2e zou dan vandaag op de TLP zijn binnen gekomen.

Maar veel waarde hecht ik niet aan dat Italiaans artikel, die plaatsen ook gewoon een foto van een Huey of zoiets! Iig is de heli op foto GEEN HH-3, want die hebben geen tailboom met wieltje en external fueltanks aan zo'n smal vleugeltje..

Paul.

RobertMB · Post by **RobertMB** » 23 Oct 2008, 20:34

Het wrak op de foto is duidelijk een Sikorsky Blackhawk !
(Zie ext. tanks, wiel, antennes ...)
BR,

Robert

Tintin · Post by **Tintin** » 23 Oct 2008, 21:06

The helicopter was going to Florent-en-Argonne (France).

Paul van der Linden · Post by **Paul van der Linden** » 23 Oct 2008, 21:09

RobertMB wrote:Het wrak op de foto is duidelijk een Sikorsky Blackhawk !
(Zie ext. tanks, wiel, antennes ...)
BR,

Robert

I think this is an archive picture of a UH-60 from Aviano which crashed in Northern Italy a few years ago.

Regards, Paul

phantomphreakde · Post by **phantomphreakde** » 23 Oct 2008, 21:31

As one can read in this message from ansa news agency, the HH-3F was on his way to Florennes to take part in TLP 5/08:
L'Aeronautica precisa che il velivolo apparteneva al 15/esimo stormo ed era decollato in mattinata dalla base di Rimini. "Un elicottero HH-3F del 15° Stormo dell'Aeronautica Militare è precipitato intorno alle ore 16.30 in Francia durante un volo di trasferimento da Digione a Florennes, in Belgio - afferma una nota dell'Aeronautica -. Tutti gli otto membri dell'equipaggio sono deceduti". L'HH-3F era decollato, insieme ad un altro dello stesso tipo, in mattinata dalla base di Rimini per raggiungere la base militare di Florennes (Belgio), dove avrebbe preso parte da domani ad un'attività addestrativa multinazionale denominata TLP, Tactical Leadership Programme". "Dopo uno scalo tecnico per il rifornimento a Dijon, in Francia - conclude l'Aeronautica - l'elicottero è ridecollato alla volta di Florennes. Durante il volo, per cause al momento sconosciute, è precipitato"

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 23 Oct 2008, 21:59

Tintin wrote:The helicopter was going to Florent-en-Argonne (France) and not Belgium.

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/monde/europe/0, ... euse-.html
Including a photo from the crashside..

Selon l'armée de l'air italienne, l'hélicoptère accidenté, un appareil de combat HH3F de marque Sikorsky, était parti avec un autre appareil similaire de l'aéroport de Rimini, au sud de l'Italie, jeudi matin pour rejoindre la base militaire de Florennes, en Belgique. Les deux appareils devaient participer à un exercice militaire multinational intitulé TLP, "Tactical Leadership Programme". Après une escale technique pour se réapprovisionner en carburant à Dijon, l'hélicoptère avait redécollé pour Florennes. Puis est arrivé l'accident, toujours inexpliqué. Selon le procureur de Verdun, Alexandre Debeusscher, il n'y a "pas eu de collision entre les deux appareils". Quant aux conditions météorologiques, elles étaient excellentes.

According to the Italian air force, the broken helicopter, an apparatus of combat HH3F of Sikorsky mark, had left with another similar apparatus the airport Rimini, in the south of Italy, Thursday morning to join the military base of Florennes, in Belgium. The two apparatuses were to take part in a military exercise multinational heading TLP, “Tactical Leadership Programs”. After a technical stopover to restock itself while carburizing in Dijon, the helicopter had redécollé for Florennes. Then the accident, always unexplained arrived. According to the prosecutor of Verdun, Alexandre Debeusscher, it “did not have there a collision between the two apparatuses”. As for the weather conditions, they were excellent.

The director of the cabinet of the prefect of the Meuse, Jean-Paul Lacouture, who was also on the Thursday spot, indicated that the helicopter was in regular overflight of the French territory. “No hazard warning signal was perceived before the accident”, has it says.

Spike · Post by **Spike** » 24 Oct 2008, 01:27

You can find the official announce on the AMI website here.

The helo came from Brindisi, then stopped at Rimini where another HH-3F joined the first and together headed to Florennes for the TLP, making a technical stop at Dijon.

A French witness said that she heard a bang and looking at the helo it seemed that the main rotor blade where stopped in the air, then the helo crashed to the ground and a fire started.

A commission has been nominated in order to investigate about the accident.

It's not known if the helicopter belong to the already updated batch or it was awaiting for its own turn. By today the 24 Pelican of the AMI have reached more than 156.000 flying hours.

I'd like to offer my condolences to families of the military involved in this accident!

Le Addeur noir · Post by **Le Addeur noir** » 24 Oct 2008, 09:28

Although the Aeronautica Militare Italiano have lost several of this type of helicopter in various accidents over the some 30 years of service for the Pelican,this tragic crash must rate as the worst loss of life in a single crash for this type.

May the crew rest in peace.

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