A Sergeant and Staff Sergeant assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, died in an aircraft mishap 27 August 2020 on San Clemente Island, California, at 1730 local. Two aircraft departed North Island Naval Air Station (KNZY) en route to the San Clemente Island range. Once the flight arrived, the crew commenced call-for-fire training as a flight of two. At approximately 1730, the radio call was received that one of the aircraft had been involved in a mishap. All crew members were extracted from the aircraft and transported to the local hospital. Sensitive items and the site were secured. The USACRC is leading a safety investigation into the mishap.
During the fourth quarter from FY15--19, the Army averaged 4.2 Class A aviation mishaps. However, this year we have had only one Class A aviation mishap to date in the fourth quarter. Prior to this incident, the Army had not experienced a Class A aviation mishap since March 2020, over five months ago. While the Army still continues to fly over 90% of its year-to-date flying hours, the Class A aviation mishap rate is 0.86 mishaps per 100,000 flight hours, the lowest rate since FY16 and lower than the five- and 10-year averages. This is the seventh Class A aviation mishap of FY20, but the third fatal aviation mishap of FY20.