New York Army National Guard officials say human error caused the military helicopter crash that killed three soldiers in Mendon earlier this year.
Col. Richard Goldenberg, public affairs officer for the New York National Guard, said that a procedural error while rehearsing an emergency training maneuver caused the fatal Jan. 20 crash. Specifically, he said, actions taken by the crew during training put the aircraft in a position where it became unrecoverable. It was, he said, an in-flight emergency related to the controls of the aircraft itself.
Killed were all three soldiers on board, chief warrant officers Steven Skoda and Daniel Prial, both of Rochester, and Christian Koch of Honeoye Falls.
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Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Authorities have identified the three soldiers killed Wednesday night when the military helicopter they were flying crashed in a Mendon field.
Killed were National Guard soldiers Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial, according to Col. Richard Goldenberg, public affairs officer for the New York National Guard. These soldiers were a part of our National Guard family and we mourn their loss, alongside their family members and loved ones, he said in a news release Friday morning.
The New York Army National Guard UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter crashed while on a routine training mission just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. It was not immediately known what caused the crash.