Airman killed in ATV rollover was ‘just out joyriding’ 7 hours ago
Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Ouelette, 42nd Aerial Port Squadron member, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, died in a single all-terrain-vehicle non-combat related accident on the flightline at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, Sept. 14, 2020. (Courtesy Westover Air Reserve Base) A 23-year-old airman who died in an all-terrain utility vehicle accident in Kuwait last fall was the passenger on an unauthorized joyride gone wrong, the Air Force said in a new investigation report published Tuesday. The Air Force found that the driver of the Army-owned Polaris Ranger failed to follow its owner’s manual, and violated multiple Air Force and Defense Department safety regulations by taking the vehicle out for a reason unrelated to work and attempting to pull a fast U-turn on the sand.
High-Speed Joy Ride Caused ATV Rollover That Killed Airman
Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, New Hampshire. (U.S. Air Force/42nd Aerial Port Squadron/Facebook)
13 Apr 2021
A sharp turn at a high rate of speed caused an Army Polaris Ranger all-terrain utility vehicle to flip at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, last September, pinning down and killing the airman in the passenger seat.
That s according to a new Air Force ground investigation report into the fatal mishap.
Staff Sgt. Ronald Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, died in the non-combat related accident Sept. 14. Ouellette and the driver, only identified as an active-duty staff sergeant, were not wearing seatbelts, helmets, eye protection or long-sleeved shirts as required by regulations, the mishap report released Tuesday states.
Safety oversights, inexperience at play in deadly 2020 ATV rollover at Ali Al Salem 3 hours ago Senior Airman Jason Khai Phan, assigned to the 66th Security Forces Squadron, was photographed in 2019 as an airman first class. Phan, of Anaheim, Calif., died as a result of non-combat related injuries while conducting a routine patrol outside the perimeter of Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, Sept. 12. (Air Force) A recent investigation into the all-terrain vehicle rollover that killed an American airman on patrol outside Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait last fall found that none of the ATV’s occupants wore seatbelts, and only one door may have been locked as needed.
By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES Published: April 5, 2021 Speed and the failure to follow safety regulations were factors in the death of a 26-year-old U.S. airman, who was killed in September during a rollover wreck of an armored vehicle outside a Kuwait air base, an Air Force investigation determined. None of the three Air Force Security Forces airmen inside the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle, or M-ATV, were wearing helmets or seatbelts, when the driver lost control of the 28,000-pound vehicle, flipping it over and ejecting Senior Airman Jason Khai Phan, an investigation board found. Phan, who was seated behind the driver, was killed instantly in the Sept. 12, 2020, wreck near the end of a 12-hour security patrol just outside Ali Al Salem Air Base, where he and the others were deployed.
On Friday, the Pentagon identified a Texas Army National Guard soldier who died in Kuwait on Wednesday.
In a statement to American Military News, the Pentagon said Staff Sgt. Timothy Luke Manchester, 34, of Austin, Texas, died in a non-combat related incident in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The Pentagon did not provide details about Machester’s death and the incident is under investigation.
Major Gen. Tracy Norris, the Adjutant General for the Texas National Guard, said, “We are devastated by the loss of one of our own. In this profession, we always know in the back of our mind that this is a possibility, but we hope it never comes to pass. The entire Texas Military Department sends our deepest condolences to Staff Sgt. Manchester’s family and loved ones he leaves behind. We are also keeping his fellow service members in our thoughts and prayers who are still overseas mourning the loss of their brother in arms.”