A crash that involved two Black Hawk helicopters at a Georgia airfield last month and killed a soldiers may not be an accident and officials are investigating if it was done intentionally, a report said. According to the report, the helicopter's captain, who was killed in the crash, may have intentionally crashed the helicopter.
Capt. James Bellew, 26, was on MedEvac duty on March 30 at the Wright Army Airfield when two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed into each other at around 2 a.m. Bellew was found dead next day at the scene, what at that time was believed to have been an accident.
Intentional, Not Accident
According to Col. Lindsey Elder, a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, Bellew was the "only crewmember involved in the incident, and he was the only one to be injured or to die in the incident."
According to Elder, all of the other crew members were asleep at the time of the crash. The crash, according to an unidentified insider, was "not an accident." Officials haven't said much about what they're calling a "event," but it appears that only Bellew was involved.
"The initial indication is that all other crewmembers were asleep at the time of the incident," said Lt. Col. Lindsey Elder of the 3rd Infantry Division.
"At this point, we cannot address the manner of the damage to the two aircrafts, timeline of events, or the response from the tower and emergency services, as those details are still considered part of the active investigation," he added.
According to Elder, the service's Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the collision, as is a safety investigation team from the US Army Combat Readiness Center.
The presence of the CID indicates criminal involvement, as the Combat Readiness Center is generally in charge of standard accent probes under Army regulations. According to the Army Times, it would only defer to the CID if the occurrence in question was judged to be "the result of a criminal act."
Unsolved Puzzle
It's unknown how Bellew managed to start at least one of the helicopters without waking up the crew or otherwise alerting those who might have been present, such as emergency medical personnel or air traffic control officials.
The investigation might now unravel the mystery because a lot has been debated on the fatal crash. Following the incident, a lot of theories tarted floating on social media, with many claiming that the choppers were intentionally destroyed.
However, despite all the theories, it's practically impossible for a person to start a helicopter single handedly without anyone's help.
According to Army Times, Bellew as a native of Charlottesville, Virginia and a "decorated officer" who began his career in 2017. Hailing form Charlottesville, Virginia, he joined the Army through the University of Virginia's ROTC program in 2017 and served as a medical service officer in South Korea until being chosen for the medevac pilot program in 2019.
According to Military.com, he had been stationed at Fort Stewart since March 2020, and had served as a platoon leader in his unit, where medevac pilots train at the neighboring Wright Army Airfield.
Moving dangerously ill Covid-19 patients to off-post medical institutions was one of his everyday responsibilities.
In addition to other service honors and ribbons, Bellew got an Army Achievement Medal, the Expert Field Medical Badge, and the Army Aviator Badge during his tenure in the military.
According to the Army Times, his former subordinates remember him as a kind and strong boss, with accolades flooding down on social media.
