Military: Human error caused deadly Mendon chopper crash

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2021/07/01/human-error-caused-deadly-mendon-ny-national-guard-helicopter-crash-officals-say/ [login to see] /
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.

The New York Army National Guard UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter — also known as a Black Hawk — crashed in a nose-down position in a field near West Bloomfield Road during the routine training mission.

Killed were all three soldiers on board, chief warrant officers Steven Skoda and Daniel Prial, both of Rochester, and Christian Koch of Honeoye Falls.

As a result of the investigation, Goldenberg said, the U.S. Army has modified its training procedure and has restricted practicing that specific emergency maneuver to flight simulators only.