(NewsNation) — The U.S. Army is reviewing and updating how it trains its helicopter pilots after a sharp increase in fatalities in the past year. But another report points to a big shortfall in flight hours as a contributing factor.
Ten soldiers have died in 14 Class A aviation mishaps since October of 2023, well above the average of six fatalities a year since 2011. A class A mishap is an incident in which someone is killed, or the cost of damaged equipment exceeds $2.5 million.
The Army says its aircrews flew an average of 198 hours last year, a drop of nearly one-third from the average of 302 hours flown in 2011 when the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were winding down.
The Congressional Budget Office says the number of manned aircraft in the Army has declined by 20% in the past 23 years. In 2000, the Army had nearly 5,000 manned aircraft. But last year, the number was about 3,900.
According to The Army Times, changes to pilot training will likely include a look at the types of helicopters soldiers are training with, simulator time and effectiveness and equipment upgrades in some helicopters warrant officers sticking to their technical tasks for longer in their careers.
Warrant officer is a class of rank between enlisted personnel and officers. It is reserved for those who possess highly technical skills, such as helicopter pilots.
The Army aircraft fleet includes four types of helicopters: the Black Hawk, Apache, Chinook and Lakota. The Huron, for passenger transport, is the Army’s lone fixed-wing aircraft.