A Utah National Guard attack helicopter that crashed Tuesday night will remain at the crash site until an Army investigation team from Alabama finishes scouring the wreckage Friday.
"We pretty well know what happened," Col. Bob Mabey said.But he also said no information about probable causes of the crash will be released until the investigation is completed because "sometimes you think you know what you have and then the investigation surprises you."
The $12.5 million AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, one of 18 operated by the Guard's 211th Aviation Group in West Jordan, was on maneuvers about five miles south of Cedar Fort, Utah County, when it crashed on a dry farm about 8 p.m.
It appears from the wreckage the helicopter was in a left turn close to the ground when the nose and left-side missile rack plowed into the dirt. The impact tore the 30mm chain gun from the underside of the aircraft and broke loose part of the missile rack, said Maj. Mike Jensen.
The Apache then lifted and came to rest about 200 feet away, after losing the tail wheel and damaging the rear stabilizer. The aircraft had not lost power when it crashed, Jensen said.
"They probably could have flown it back in an emergency," Mabey said, but the crew - pilot Chief Warrant Officer Dave Bandli, 37, Palm Springs, Calif., and co-pilot and gunner Warrant Officer Tate Eyre, 25, Provo - shut down the helicopter's power systems and notified the guard's flight operations center by radio. They were picked up by another helicopter.
A guard remained with the damaged helicopter Thursday, preserving the crash site until the inspection team arrives Friday.
Neither crew member was injured in the crash but both will remain grounded during the investigation, Mabey said.
McDonnell Douglas, which builds the Apache, boasts of the aircraft's "survivability" in combat and in a crash. Mabey said the crew and aircraft would have fared much worse if the crash had involved a Vietnam-era Cobra attack helicopter instead of the Apache.