US Army Investigates If Crash of Two Black Hawk Helicopters Was Intentionally Carried out by Medevac Pilot

The US Army is looking into whether a medevac pilot intentionally crashed two Black Hawk helicopters at a Georgia base last month.

On March 30, Capt. James Bellew, 26, was on medevac duty at the Wright Army Airfield, a dual-use airfield serving Fort Stewart and the city of Hinesville in Georgia when two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters collided at about 2 am.

Double Helicopter Crash at Fort Stewart Allegedly Intentional

He was discovered dead at the collision scene the next morning. According to Col. Lindsey Elder, a spokeswoman for the 3rd Infantry Division, Bellew was the only crewmember engaged in the event, and he was the only one injured or died in the incident, as per Army Times.

The combat aviation brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division is based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, about 30 miles northeast of Wright. In the event of an emergency on the bigger post, MedEvac teams rotate through 24/7 duty shifts at Wright.

It's unknown how he managed to start at least one of the helicopters without waking up the crew or otherwise alerting anyone who could have been there, such as emergency medical professionals or air traffic control officials. According to Elder, the service's Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the collision.

The presence of the CID suggests criminal involvement, as the Combat Readiness Center is generally in charge of standard accent inquiries under Army regulations. According to the Army Times, it would only defer to the CID if the occurrence in issue was judged to be the consequence of criminal conduct.

Army Identifies Fort Stewart Soldier Who Died in Helicopter Incident

The probe comes after many ideas about the incident surfaced on social media, including one that claimed the planes were deliberately destroyed. Bellew of Charlottesville, Virginia, joined the Army through the University of Virginia's ROTC program in 2017 and served as a medical service officer in South Korea until being chosen for the medevac pilot program in 2019.

According to Military.com, he had been stationed at Fort Stewart since March 2020 and had served as a platoon leader in his unit, where medevac pilots train at the neighboring Wright Army Airfield. Moving dangerously ill COVID-19 patients to off-post medical institutions was one of his everyday responsibilities.

Various accounts of what happened next have surfaced in closed social media groups and a now-deleted blog post. However, all of the accounts depicted the incident as a deliberate demolition of both planes. The specifics of the crash sequence and Bellew's objectives could not be independently verified by Army Times.

In addition to other service honors and ribbons, Bellew got an Army Achievement Medal, the Expert Field Medical Badge, and the Army Aviator Badge during his tenure in the military. Former subordinates remember him as a kind and powerful boss, and condolences have poured in on social media.

Bellew's services to the US Army and his unselfish commitment to the profession will forever be remembered by the brothers and sisters with whom he served,' stated the University of Virginia ROTC program on March 31, and Luis B. Blanchard noted that he trained with Bellew, as per Daily Mail.