Damn...so sorry to read this.

Awful news for their families. We know a young man in that unit and it was tough waiting to hear he was ok. Anyone who has waited to learn if a loved one was ok in these sort of scenarios knows the sense of immediate relief and then the switch to immediate sadness again knowing someone else just like you is not going to get good news. It sucks.
RIP, soldiers.

RIP gentlemen and thank you.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/christian-koch-steven-skoda-daniel-prial-identified-as-national-guard-troops-who-died-in-upstate-helicopter-crash/ar-BB1d05di?ocid=msedgntp

If anybody is so inclined, a Go Fund Me has been set up for Christians family. He was the only one who was married.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/christian-koch-memorial-fund?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer

RIP.

My most scared moments when I was in SCARNG were flying in UH-1s. We had one crash in a lake and 1 passenger died.

What a beautiful family. My heart hurts.

Submitted anonymously on the link.

Thank you, Matt.

Thanks Matt. In as well.

Thoughts are with you Matt, your friends and their families. I'm in.

I flew many, many hours in UH-1H's with Steve Skoda, including fire missions, Panama, NVG, etc.

Done deal. Thanks for keeping me updated Matt.

So sorry for the loss of your friends, Matt. May they RIP.


.

Thank you one and all. I appreciate all the kind words. I am ok. I have been here too many times before, but never with people that I was so close to. Tomorrow will be the toughest yet. There is a vigil/gathering for all of their friends and family. That will be the hardest of all. I am sure that there will not be many dry eyes. These men meant a lot to many people.

On a positive note; thank you to all who donated to Christian's GFM. As of about 20 minutes ago it had cleared 90k !! Quite an astonishing amount for the family. It cannot bring back the husband, father, son, brother, and friend that Christian was to so many people, but hopefully it will reduce the pain of financial burden due to his sudden death.

My hat is off to you fellow Pelicans !

Oh wow. All I can think or say is while their lives were cut short, it was not a wasted life.
Soldiers to the end, serving, dedicated and precious.

Matt, stand tall, be strong, and lean if needed. May the families and friends cope and move forward.

I became a stepdad to my daughter when she was 3 and she considers me Dad. I don't think I've ever heard "Bonus Dad". That hit me hard. God bless them all and a special nod to Bonus Dad Christian, Good on YOU! Those kids were blessed to have him when they did.

RIP Men

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1611531041.jpg

Godspeed to those that lost their lives.

Dave

I am in concert with Christian's friend. These men were consumate professionals who had performed the EP's hundreds of times. The crash site was far from the training area, so they would not have performed an EP under any circumstance unless it was real. They managed to get the aircraft to the only field large enough to PL (precautionary landing) in the area. They were too low in altitude for being outside the training area also. These lead me to believe that there was a real emergency unfolding and they nursed the aircraft to the first place they could PL. Unfortunately the aircraft didn't cooperate. I have been a regular fixture at the flight facility since my retirement. No one believes it to be pilot/procedural error. The witnesses describing a sputtering is not a normal sound for a functioning helicopter. Sorry, the details do not add up to the army conclusion.

Godspeed to all of the fallen soldiers and their families and friends. It is a devastating loss for you Matt and our country.

So sorry to hear this