Suit blames negligence for crash of Black Hawk

A safety wire spool left in the helicopter caused a Black Hawk to crash in Iraq last year, killing four crew members and 14 soldiers, including 10 stationed at Schofield Barracks, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week in Texas.

The lawsuit is against L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, a Mississippi-based corporation described by the suit as performing maintenance on the Black Hawk.

The suit said during the inspection, the spool was negligently left in the helicopter. The spool became wedged between the tail rotor drive shaft and the housing, causing the drive shaft to fail and the crash, the suit said.

The crash occurred near Kirkuk on Aug. 22 and killed all 18 aboard the Black Hawk.

The suit is on behalf of the 14 soldiers whose relatives reside around the country. Ten of the soldiers were part of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Schofield.

The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of damages.

Dani Edmonson, Vertex Aerospace's communication manager, declined to comment yesterday, saying the corporate policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

The company's registered agent is located in Texas, the suit said.