Marine Squadron Leader Among 2 Killed in Crash

Two Marine aviators, one a squadron commander, were killed Wednesday when their Cobra attack helicopter crashed in rough terrain at the Naval Weapons Station near Fallbrook during a nighttime training mission.

The AH-1 Cobra, a heavily armed, jet-powered aircraft designed to fly low and destroy enemy tanks and troop positions, crashed about 12:40 a.m. at the weapons storage facility, which is next to Camp Pendleton, said Gunnery Sgt. Dave Marriott, a Marine Corps spokesman.

The victims were identified as Lt. Colonel David A. Knott, 40, of David City, Neb. and Capt. Michael M. Vagedes, 27, of Centerville, Ohio. It could not be confirmed if either aviator was a Desert Storm veteran.

The crew and helicopter were from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, which was commanded by Knott, according to Cpl. Deidre Hinkle, a Camp Pendleton spokeswoman. The squadron, based at Camp Pendleton, is part of the Marine Aircraft Group 39.

Knott and Vagedes were participating in a night training flight when the crash occurred, Marriott said. It was not disclosed whether they were using night vision goggles at the time of the crash. Such devices have played a role in a number of military air crashes.

“I can’t say whether they were just flying over it (the Naval Weapons Station) on the way back to Camp Pendleton or what, I don’t know,” Marriott said.

Military officials declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, saying it is under investigation.

“It crashed in the northern part of Fallbrook,” said Chief Petty Officer Martin Wicklund, spokesman for the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego. “The terrain there is very hilly, with a lot of ravines in the area, and the helicopter actually came down on a small bluff.”

Firefighters from Camp Pendleton responded to put out a small brush fire that was ignited by the crash, but no structures were threatened and no one on the ground was injured, Marriott said.

The Navy Weapons Station where the crash occurred is primarily a weapon storage facility, Wicklund said, although it is also used for the assembly, repair and testing of both ground and air weapons for the Marine Corps.

The fatal crash was the second by a Camp Pendleton-based helicopter within the last year. On July 27, two Marines were killed and three others injured when their UH-1N Huey aircraft crashed in the Chocolate Mountains of Imperial County during a training mission.

Wednesday’s crash was also the second fatal accident this year involving AH-1 Cobra helicopters, which had been used extensively during Operation Desert Storm.

On Feb. 3, an AH-1 crashed during an escort mission in Saudi Arabia, killing its crew of two. On Feb. 7, also in Saudi Arabia, an AH-1 Cobra crashed and burned on takeoff during a pre-dawn training mission after it drifted sideways and landed upside down. Both of the Army aviators aboard escaped uninjured.

Last April, the Army awarded a $34-billion contract to Boeing and Sikorsky to develop and build 1,292 lightweight helicopters to replace several thousand scout and light attack models, including the Cobra. The new helicopters will not be assigned to the Marine Corps.