We lost William when his SH-60F helicopter struck an electrical wire during nightime CSAR flight from NAS Fallon. Also killed were AW2 Andrew Robert Bibbo, 22, of Clinton, MA; AW2 Jared John Rossetto, 24, of Corralitos, CA; Commanding Officer Commander Michael D. Sheahan, 40, of Augusta, GA; and LT Richard Francis Andersen Jr., 27, of Virginia Beach, Va.Shipmates Comments: Aw1 (Civ.) Scott Fitzpatrick I remember Bill from when he was in HS-14, and I served with him during our 99' deployment to the Persian Gulf. I have known a number of aircrewman that have been killed in the line of duty over my career, and I still think about each and every one of them from time to time. I never forget that because of their sacrifice I am able to enjoy the life that I know lead.Media Reports: CNN Navy helicopter hits power line; 5 killed POSTED: 11:43 a.m. EDT, May 8, 2007
Story Highlights
• Helicopter was taking part in a search and rescue exercise in Nevada
• The aircraft hit a high-voltage transmission line
• It was assigned to Antisubmarine Squadron Seven based in Jacksonville
RENO, Nevada (AP) -- A Navy helicopter struck a power line during a training flight and crashed in a rugged area of the northern Nevada desert, killing all five crew members, the Navy said Tuesday. Navy investigators were on the scene early Tuesday to recover the bodies. The SH-60F helicopter, flying out of Naval Air Station Fallon, went down late Monday about 10 miles west of Austin, base spokesman Zip Upham said.
"The helicopter was on a combat search and rescue exercise," Upham said. He said it struck a high-voltage transmission line, cutting the line. No electrical service interruptions were reported. The helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Seven based in Jacksonville, Florida. The squadron is part of Carrier Air Wing Three, which deploys on the USS Harry S. Truman. The crew was on a monthlong training mission at Fallon that began April 30.
Upham said the crash occurred in an unpopulated area managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He described the area as "rugged terrain, very remote." Names of the crew members were withheld pending the notification of their relatives. Fallon, 60 miles east of Reno, is the home of the Navy's elite Strike and Air Warfare Center, formed in 1996 with the consolidation of the Navy fighter Weapons School known as "Top Gun" and the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School, or "Top Dome." San Diego Union Tribune Navy identifies 5 killed in Nevada helicopter crash By Sandra Chereb, ASSOCIATED PRESS
POSTED: 12:54 p.m. May 9, 2007
RENO, Nev. – The Navy released the names Wednesday of five crew members killed when their helicopter crashed during a nighttime training mission in the northern Nevada desert. Those killed in the Monday night accident were identified as Cmdr. Michael D. Sheahan, 40, of Augusta, Ga.; Lt. Richard Francis Andersen Jr., 27, of Virginia Beach, Va.; and aviation warfare systems operators William Weatherford, 30, of Wichita, Kan., Jared John Rossetto, 24, of Corralitos, Calif., and Andrew Robert Bibbo, 22, of Clinton, Mass.
Their SH-60 Seahawk helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Seven, known as the “Dusty Dogs,” based in Jacksonville, Fla. The squadron is part of Carrier Air Wing Three, which deploys on the USS Harry S. Truman.
The entire carrier air wing, about 1,800 personnel, was on a monthlong training mission at Naval Air Station Fallon 60 miles east of Reno when the accident occurred Monday night.
Sheahan, the squadron's commanding officer, was piloting the helicopter when it struck a high-voltage power line and crashed about 10 miles west of Austin in central Nevada, the Navy said. The crew was participating in a simulated, nighttime combat search and rescue exercise, flying at a low altitude, when the helicopter flew into the transmission line and crashed, the military said. Zip Upham, public affairs officer at NAS Fallon, said investigators continued to gather evidence at the crash site. “At this point we're continuing the investigation at the wreck site,” Upham said Wednesday. “Remains of the personnel have been removed and are being prepared so they can be returned to their loved ones for proper services.” Upham said findings of the investigation will be evaluated and used to try to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Navy Times Investigation of Nev. copter crash continues By Chris Amos - Staff writer
POSTED: Friday May 11, 2007 10:31:56 EDT
An investigation into the cause of a Navy helicopter crash Monday in the Nevada desert that killed five crew members will be led by a local investigating officer and a team from the Naval Safety Center in Portsmouth, Va., according to a base spokesman. “The physical investigation of the crash site continues,” said Zip Upham, a spokesman for Naval Air Station Fallon, the base from which the SH-60F helicopter took off shortly before crash. “When that is completed, the wreckage will be removed.” Upham said the crash site is several miles from the nearest paved road and about 10 miles from Austin, a town with a population of about 500 about 150 miles east of Reno. All five people onboard the helicopter were killed on impact, Upham said, after the aircraft flew into power lines during night operations.
Killed in the crash were Cmdr. Michael D. Sheahan, 40, of Augusta, Ga.; Lt. Richard F. Andersen, 27, of Virginia Beach, Va.; Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 1st Class William Weatherford, 30, of Wichita, Kan.; Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Jared J. Rosetto, 24, of Corralitos, Calif.; and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Andrew R. Bibbo, 22, of Clinton, Miss. Each man was a member of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 7, the Dusty Dogs, based at NAS Jacksonville, Fla.
Upham said the crew members’ bodies had been removed from the crash site, but he said he was unsure whether they had been taken to the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del. The crash site, on a “rugged and remote” parcel of land owned by the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management, sits beneath 13,000 square miles of restricted air space — an area the size of Massachusetts and Rhode Island — used by naval aircraft training at Fallon.
The Dusty Dogs arrived at Fallon on April 30 with the rest of Carrier Air Wing 3 for a month of training before they were scheduled to deploy aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, according to a statement released by Fallon’s public affairs office. Upham said the remainder of the squadron halted flight operations for one day after the crash. “They paused on Tuesday to take care of the victims, notify the families, and take stock of the situation,” he said. “They will continue their training syllabus at Fallon and make up for the delay on Saturdays.”
Upham said there had been two helicopter crashes — neither of which resulted in any fatalities — at Fallon during the past eight years. The last fatality at Fallon occurred when an F-5 Tiger used by the Navy as an adversary aircraft crashed in 2003, he said.
