MSgt US Air Force
20th Special Operations Squadron, out of Hurlburt Field, FL
He was the flight engineer onboard an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations for 'Operation Mountain Resolve' when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1985, shortly after graduating from high school in Houston, MO. He had been among the first troops to deploy to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks and for the US invasion of Iraq. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping rescue a downed American pilot in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
He was survived by his wife; his 15-year-old daughter; four brothers; and two sisters.
The other US Air Force members killed in the crash were Maj Steven Plumhoff, SSgt Thomas Alva Walkup Jr, TSgt Howard Arlen Walters; and US Army SGM Phillip Robert Albert. Their remains were interred together in a group burial on January 21, 2004.
20th Special Operations Squadron, out of Hurlburt Field, FL
He was the flight engineer onboard an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations for 'Operation Mountain Resolve' when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1985, shortly after graduating from high school in Houston, MO. He had been among the first troops to deploy to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks and for the US invasion of Iraq. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping rescue a downed American pilot in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
He was survived by his wife; his 15-year-old daughter; four brothers; and two sisters.
The other US Air Force members killed in the crash were Maj Steven Plumhoff, SSgt Thomas Alva Walkup Jr, TSgt Howard Arlen Walters; and US Army SGM Phillip Robert Albert. Their remains were interred together in a group burial on January 21, 2004.
MSgt US Air Force
20th Special Operations Squadron, out of Hurlburt Field, FL
He was the flight engineer onboard an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations for 'Operation Mountain Resolve' when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1985, shortly after graduating from high school in Houston, MO. He had been among the first troops to deploy to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks and for the US invasion of Iraq. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping rescue a downed American pilot in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
He was survived by his wife; his 15-year-old daughter; four brothers; and two sisters.
The other US Air Force members killed in the crash were Maj Steven Plumhoff, SSgt Thomas Alva Walkup Jr, TSgt Howard Arlen Walters; and US Army SGM Phillip Robert Albert. Their remains were interred together in a group burial on January 21, 2004.
20th Special Operations Squadron, out of Hurlburt Field, FL
He was the flight engineer onboard an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations for 'Operation Mountain Resolve' when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1985, shortly after graduating from high school in Houston, MO. He had been among the first troops to deploy to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks and for the US invasion of Iraq. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for helping rescue a downed American pilot in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
He was survived by his wife; his 15-year-old daughter; four brothers; and two sisters.
The other US Air Force members killed in the crash were Maj Steven Plumhoff, SSgt Thomas Alva Walkup Jr, TSgt Howard Arlen Walters; and US Army SGM Phillip Robert Albert. Their remains were interred together in a group burial on January 21, 2004.
Bio by: Brenda N
