{"id":45477,"date":"2018-12-12T19:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T19:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/12\/two-surviving-army-pilots-are-suing-sikorsky-over-a-helicopter-crash-that-killed-their-crew-chief\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:03:00","slug":"two-surviving-army-pilots-are-suing-sikorsky-over-a-helicopter-crash-that-killed-their-crew-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2018\/12\/12\/two-surviving-army-pilots-are-suing-sikorsky-over-a-helicopter-crash-that-killed-their-crew-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Two surviving Army pilots are suing Sikorsky over a helicopter crash that killed their crew chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They were in the middle of a routine training flight when the tail rotor of their UH-60L Black Hawk<\/a> helicopter started to shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within minutes, Capt. Terikazu Onoda<\/a> had completely lost control of the helicopter, and it crashed into a Maryland golf course<\/a>, severely injuring him and co-pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Nicholas and killing crew chief Spc. Jeremy Tomlin, 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 270-page command investigation pointed to a defect with the Black Hawk, prompting the pilots and Tomlin\u2019s widow to seek a lawsuit against Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, according to attorney Timothy Loranger. The suit was filed Monday in Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe type of failure that occurred is not something that is caused by normal wear and tear,\u201d Loranger told Army Times in a Tuesday phone interview. \u201cIt appears that there was a defect in the manufacturing process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might have been a design issue, he added, or a faulty part that managed to pass quality assurance tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew from looking at this info that someone didn\u2019t do their job correctly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spc. Jeremy Tomlin, a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief, was killed April 17, 2017, in a helicopter crash. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The three soldiers were based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia\u2019s 12th Aviation Battalion, an aviation support unit for the Washington, D.C., area. They were on an air assault formation training flight on April 17, 2017, when the helicopter began to vibrate, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onoda navigated the crew toward a small private airport in Maryland, intending to set the Black Hawk down for an emergency landing. But then he noticed something very wrong with the tail rotor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c… 43 seconds before impact, the tail rotor gearbox separated from the aircraft,\u201d the investigating officer wrote, sending the helicopter lurching and spinning before it hit a tree and crashed at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomlin was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel, while Onoda and Nicholas were sent to a Baltimore trauma center in critical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\t