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HS-6 HH-60 BUNO: 165117 Born: June 15, 1988 Died: May 19, 2009 Hometown: Lovelock, NV |
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HS-6 HH-60 BUNO: 165117 Born: June 15, 1988 Died: May 19, 2009 Hometown: Lovelock, NV |
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 22, 2009
Poway resident in copter tragedy
Navy identifies five killed in ocean crash
By Karen Kucher Union-Tribune Staff Writer, Steve Liewer Union-Tribune Staff Writer, Susan Shroder Union-Tribune Staff Writer
CORONADO--A Navy officer from Poway was among the five crew members killed aboard the Navy helicopter that crashed Tuesday near the Coronado Islands. Navy officials yesterday released all five names, including that of Lt. Cmdr. Eric J. Purvis, 37, of Poway.
The HH-60 Seahawk crashed into the ocean about 15 miles south of Point Loma at 11:36 p.m. Tuesday during a training exercise off the aircraft carrier Nimitz. The Navy identified the other four crew members as Lt. Allison M. Oubre, 27, of Slidell, La.; Naval Air Crewman 1st Class Samuel “Grant” Kerslake, 41, of Hot Springs, Ark.; Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class Aaron L. Clingman, 25, of Bend, Ore.; and Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class Sean M. Ward, 20, of Lovelock, Nev.
Three bodies were recovered Wednesday. The Coast Guard suspended its search for survivors yesterday. “Continuous search coverage was provided from the time of the crash until suspension,” Coast Guard Cmdr. Guy Pearce said. The Navy sent a team of search-and-salvage specialists to use unmanned underwater vehicles to look for the wreckage yesterday. An ordnance-disposal team will try to locate the chopper, the Navy said. “We have a general idea, but we need to really pinpoint it,” Navy Cmdr. Dora Lockwood said.
Purvis' aunt, Lin Bornhuetter of Albuquerque, N.M., speaking on behalf of his family last night, said, “We're devastated.” Oubre was a helicopter pilot who attended Vanderbilt University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. She had planned to marry a fellow helicopter pilot June 20, said her father, Don Oubre of Slidell, La.
Clingman's father, Lee Clingman, told The Oregonian newspaper that the body of his son, a Navy rescue swimmer, was among the three recovered. Clingman had completed a five-year tour and re-enlisted last year. He had a daughter who was born on the Fourth of July. He was expecting deployment aboard the Nimitz in June, his father said.
The families of Kerslake and Ward could not be reached.
The helicopter crashed as it was taking part in search-and-rescue training. It was attached to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 6, based at North Island Naval Air Station. Navy officials have released few details about the crash, saying the cause is under investigation. The accident was the second in two weeks involving a local military helicopter. Two Marine Corps pilots from Camp Pendleton died May 6 when their AH-1W Super Cobra crashed in the Cleveland National Forest six miles east of Pine Valley.
Navy Times, May 23, 2009
Navy IDs 5 sailors in Seahawk crash
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
SAN DIEGO — Navy officials on Thursday evening released the names of the five-member helicopter aircrew who perished after their HH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashed into the Pacific off the Mexico coast Tuesday night. Killed in the crash were the pilots, Lt. Cmdr. Eric J. Purvis, 37, of Poway, Calif., and Lt. Allison J. Oubre, 27, of Slidell, La.; and three naval air crewmen, Naval Air Crewman 1st Class (AW/NAC) Samuel “Grant” Kerslake, 41, of Hot Springs, Ark., Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class (AW/NAC) Aaron L. Clingman, 25, of Bend, Ore., and Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class (AW/NAC) Sean M. Ward, 20, of Lovelock, Nev.
Search and rescue crews had recovered the bodies of three of the aircrew on Wednesday. On Thursday, officials said naval teams launched underwater vehicles to comb the waters near Mexico’s Coronado Islands for the missing two members and any wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed during a training flight. The Navy’s search efforts came as the Coast Guard on Thursday suspended its search for the missing crewmembers. “The Navy’s search efforts are now focused on the feasibility of salvage operations,” Naval Air Forces officials said in a statement.
Four 11-meter rigid inflatable boats took a team of search and salvage specialists with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 1 and underwater unmanned vehicles to the vicinity where the helicopter is believed to have crashed, U.S. 3rd Fleet officials said. “They deployed UUVs to conduct underwater mapping” during the six-hour mission, fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Dora Lockwood said Thursday. The data the team collected “is currently being analyzed,” Lockwood said. “We will use that data to determine a search or salvage operation.”
The helicopter crew was conducting a combat search-and-rescue training mission when it crashed into the Pacific about 11:36 p.m. Tuesday. The helicopter and crew belonged to Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron 6 from North Island Naval Air Station, Coronado, Calif., and was operating as part of Carrier Air Wing 11 off the aircraft carrier Nimitz, which is conducting its Composite Training Unit Exercise.
Navy officials are investigating the cause of the crash. Officials have not said whether the helicopter crew reported any in-flight problems or issued a mayday call before the aircraft went into the water.
NBCSandiego.com, May 22, 2009
Young Father, Bride-to-Be Among Crash Victims
By Michelle Wayland and Eric S. Page
The U.S. Navy has identified the five members of a flight crew whose helicopter went down on a training flight southwest of San Diego; one of them is from San Diego. Lt. Cmdr. Eric J. Purvis, 37, called Poway his hometown. The HH60 Seahawk helicopter he was flying in took off from the USS Nimitz and crashed late Tuesday some 13 miles southwest of San Diego and 87 miles from the aircraft carrier.
Also on board the ill-fated chopper was Lt. Allison M. Oubre, 27, of Slidell, La. She graduated from Vanderbuilt University in 2003. Her father told local newspapers she was getting ready to take time off from the Navy next month so she could get married.
Naval Air Crewman 2nd class Aaron Clingman from Bend, Ore., leaves behind his wife, Ashley, and his 10-month-old baby girl, Aiden, who was born last year on the Fourth of July. His father, Lee, said he had just completed a five-year tour as a rescue swimmer and was training on USS Nimitz for another tour.
Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class Sean M. Ward, 20, of Lovelock, Nev., came from a long line of serviceman according to his father Mike Ward. Sean Ward may have been tethered to the back of the helicopter when it crashed, Mike Ward told ktvn.com. "He knew the risks and so did we. He picked something that he loved doing," Ward said.
Sean Ward played football, baseball and basketball in high school and was considered a hero in the small community. "Honestly, the kind of kid every mom would want her daughter to marry," Pershing County High School teacher Shauna Bake said.
Naval Air Crewman 1st Class Samuel "Grant" Kerslake, 41, of Hot Springs, Ark., was also on the ill-fated flight.
The bodies of three of the crewmembers were recovered shortly after the crash. Rescue efforts for the two missing members were called off Thursday because, officials said, it was unlikely the pair could have survived more than 36 hours in the ocean after Tuesday night's crash. The Navy has not yet said which crew members' bodies were recovered. "The Navy's search efforts are now focused on the feasibility of salvage operations," said a news release issued by the Navy late Thursday. Navy search and salvage specialists will continue searching for the wreckage of the HH-60 Seahawk 13 miles southwest of San Diego. Unmanned underwater vehicles were used Thursday to explore the sea bottom. The lost aircraft was with Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 6, which is part of Carrier Air Wing 11 assigned to the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. The crew was off the coast of Southern California participating in maneuvers at the time of the crash, officials reported.
Reno Gazette Journal, May 23, 2009
Lovelock remembers sailor killed in accident
By Jaclyn O'Malley
A 20-year-old Navy sailor from Lovelock, who died with four others in a military helicopter crash Tuesday in San Diego, was described by friends as inspiring and whose goodwill toward the community and his school affected everyone. Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class Sean M. Ward was killed in the combat search-and-rescue training mission with pilots Lt. Cmdr. Eric J. Purvis, 37, of Poway, Calif.; Lt. Allison J. Oubre, 27, of Slidell, La.; naval air crewman 1st Class Samuel "Grant" Kerslake, 41, of Hot Springs, Ark.; and crewman 2nd Class Aaron L. Clingman, 25, of Bend, Ore.
On Wednesday, search and rescue crews found three bodies, and by Thursday search efforts were suspended. By Friday afternoon the Navy had not yet confirmed if Ward had been found. Naval air forces said efforts are now focused on salvage operations. Ward's family could not be reached Friday, but his father, Mike, told television reporters Thursday his son knew the risks of being in the military and that he chose a career he loved.
Since news of his death, the town of Lovelock has been devastated, the sailor's friends said. They said they will never forget his smile and happy nature. "It's been emotional," said his former physical education teacher, Shauna Bake, who also was his student council adviser. "We're in shock and disbelief. He supported this town and school in so many ways. He believed so much in everyone and really wanted to give back."
Ward was a standout athlete at Pershing County High school, playing football, basketball and baseball. He was also an academic all-star, in the national honor society and served in student leadership groups. Former football coach Dan Murphy said that Ward could have gone to college, but he chose to serve the country in the Navy. Ward's father and at least one other relative were also in the military, he said.
About two weeks ago, Murphy spoke with Ward, who was home for a visit. He said Ward told him how much he loved what he was doing in the Navy and how he had no time for girls. Ward's dream was to be a rescue swimmer. "Sean was the kind of kid that as a parent, you want your child to be like," he said. "He was really a leader amongst his peers." Ward also had a soft spot for youth, he said. Murphy recalled several times on the football field that Ward would stick around to help younger football athletes, who all looked up to him.
Lahontan Valley News, May 26, 2009
Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class (AW/NAC) Sean Michael Ward
Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class (AW/NAC) Sean Michael Ward, passed away on May 19, 2009. Sean was training in a HH60 Seahawk helicopter when it went down off the coast of San Diego, Calif. All on board were lost. Sean was born in Frankfurt, Germany on June 15, 1988 to Michael and Maria Ward. Most of his childhood was spent in Northern Nevada. He attended elementary school in Fallon before moving to Lovelock in 1996.
In Lovelock, Sean excelled in everything, especially athletics, and was a defensive back and quarterback for the Mustangs during a 24 game winning streak, during which the Mustangs claimed a 2A State Football Championship. He also earned multiple letters in basketball and baseball. He was voted Most Popular, Funniest, and Best Actor by his senior class. Upon graduation, Sean enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he once again excelled. Sean absolutely loved his duties in the Navy and was lost doing what he loved while preparing to serve our country overseas.
Sean was, quite simply, the young man every boy in Lovelock looked up to and the young man every parent would be proud to have their daughter bring home. Eeverybody he met, no matter how briefly, was touched and inspired by him. He was an important part of the Lovelock community and touched far more lives here, and in his Naval service, than he ever knew. Sean’s overwhelming zest for life, family, friends, children and sports and his effortless manner of passing that zest onto everyone he met will never be duplicated or forgotten.
Surviving Sean are his parents, Michael and Maria Ward of Lovelock; sister, Jennifer M. Ward of Reno; grandmother, Ursula Kotzabassis of Germany; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins around the country and the world. Everyone within Lovelock, and his Naval Squadron (115-6 Screamin Indians), were considered by Sean to be a huge part of his extended family; so he is survived by all of them as well. He was an inspiration to everyone and will be missed dearly by every one of us, young and old.
A memorial service for him will be held at Joe Yanni Field on the campus of Pershing County High School on June 1 at 9:30 a.m. The same day, funeral services will be held at the Fernley Verteran’s Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Pershing County High School Athletics department, P.O. Box 990, Lovelock, NV 89419. Arrangements are under the direction of Lovelock Funeral Home.