Two Marines who were interviewed in the course of an investigation of January’s deadly collision of two Marine Corps helicopters off Hawaii told investigators that President Obama’s Christmas vacation was a factor in pilots not getting enough flying hours to maintain their proficiency.
The Jan. 14 accident, which claimed the lives of 12 Marines, was officially blamed on pilot error as the two CH-53 helicopters failed to maintain a safe separation during the nighttime training mission off Oahu’s northern coast.
But one Marine in particular blamed the Secret Service for failing to grant the unit an exemption to standard flight restrictions that are routinely implemented to protect the president and his family. Military.com was the first to report the story.
The Marine Corps air station where the helicopters are based is on Oahu, just north of Kailua, where the president stayed from Dec. 18, 2015, to Jan. 2, 2016.
“I tried to explain to the Secret Service that functional flight checks (quick maintenance flights), were necessary for all routine maintenance. They refused to allow any flights,” said the Marine, whose name was redacted from a transcript in the final report on the accident. “This had a very real impact on HMH-463’s ability to improve RBA [Ready Basic Aircraft] numbers,” he said.
The investigation, which was released this week, paints a dismal picture of a unit in distress, suffering from low morale, broken helicopters and poor leadership, all factors leading up to the January crash, the Marine Corps’ deadliest in more than a decade.
A Pentagon official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the Secret Service, said during the president’s stay 35 requests for waivers to the temporary flight restrictions were made, and all were granted.
The official tells the Washington Examiner the Secret Service has informed the Pentagon that they are not aware of any requests for waivers that were denied.
“The Secret service granted 100 percent of the requests for waivers,” said a second Pentagon official, who said members of the President’s Secret Service detail reported they did not recall any informal, verbal requests, either.
A Marine Corps official said the “temporary flight restriction was not a direct cause of this mishap.”
“A thorough and detailed command investigation into the circumstances surrounding this mishap identified numerous factors, including the temporary flight restriction, which taken collectively may have had adverse impacts on unit readiness and training,” said Maj. Christian Devine in a statement.
“The annual, pre-planned temporary flight restriction was consistent with normal standard operating procedures used by USSS during presidential visits to Hawaii and our aviation units mitigate its impact by utilizing alternative training routes or other venues during these annual visits,” Devine added. “The temporary flight restriction was not a direct cause of this mishap.”
