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2 Marines killed in copter collision were on an ‘indoctrination flight’By Barbara A. SerranoThe RegisterMilitary investigators in Nevada continued searching for clues Monday to the collision of two Orange County-based helicopters in which two female Marines seated in the rear of one of the aircraft died.Reserve Cpl. Lisa Tutt, 23, and Sgt. Brenda L. Schroeder, 29, both of Santa Ana were in the passenger section of a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter when it collided with another Sea Knight and crashed during a training mission Saturday morning near the Fallon Naval Air Station.Tutt and Schroeder were on an “indoctrination flight” designed to familiarize them with military helicopters, said Fallon Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Katie Haddock. Three male Marines who were guiding the aircraft, the pilot, co-pilot and crew chief, survived the crash with few injuries, Haddock said.The two CH-46 Sea Knights, part of a squadron permanently assigned to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, were on maneuvers as part of a two-week exercise called operation “High Roller.”The impact of the collision caused the Sea Knight in which Tutt and Schroeder were flying to split in half, Haddock said. The front section was damaged, but still intact when it crashed, she said. The rear section landed about 1,100 yards away.“The back half really was not distinguishable,” Haddock said. “It was really more like a large pile.”The second helicopter crash-landed in the desert about a mile away, sustaining only moderate damage, she said. Its four passengers survived.Tutt’s parents have said they want to know why the male Marines escaped serious injury and the female Marines died.“It would be more appropriate toask, ‘Why did the passengers perish and the pilots survive?’ ” Haddock said. “It doesn’t have to do with the sex of the people. It had to do with what part of the aircraft you were riding in.”The accident could have been much worse had there been a fire, she said.Haddock said she had no further details about the women’s deaths, or about any leads on the cause of the collision, which is under investigation by the Marine Corps ^ith assistance from the US Navy.Two years ago, another CH-46 helicopter crashed near the Nevada naval base during a night mission flown by pilots wearing the controversial night-vision goggles.The survivors of Saturday’s crash were among more than 500 Marines who attended a memorial service for Schroeder and Tutt on Monday at the naval base.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Orange County Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Tue, May 30, 1989
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CA, USA 20 Sep 2018
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