2004 Afghanistan crash blamed on pilots - Blackwater USA

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2004 Afghanistan crash blamed on pilots

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2416565.php

By Michelle Tan
Staff writer



(Left to right) Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, 41, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Travis Grogan, 31, died in the crash. Spc. Harley Miller, 21, survived the crash but died of his injuries before rescuers reached the crash site. — AP Photo

“Inappropriate” decisions made by the flight crew of a Florida-based civilian contractor were the primary causes of a 2004 plane crash in Afghanistan that killed six people, including three soldiers, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The fatal flight, which crashed into the mountains of Bamian Valley on Nov. 27, 2004, was operated by Florida-based Presidential Airways. The company shares a parent company with Blackwater USA, a prominent military contractor that counts among its employees former military personnel.

Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, 41, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Travis Grogan, 31, died in the crash. Spc. Harley Miller, 21, survived the crash but died of his injuries before rescuers reached the crash site.

Also killed were the crew members, pilot Noel English, 37, first officer Loren Hammer, 35, and flight mechanic Melvin Rowe, 43.

English and Hammer had been in Afghanistan only two weeks.

The probable cause of the crash was “the captain’s inappropriate decision to fly a nonstandard route and his failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance,” according to the NTSB report.

“It was very clear what happened,” said Sean Cronin, an attorney representing the soldiers’ families. “The pilots were essentially joy riding through the mountains and caused this crash.”