Air Force Capt. Kermit O. Evans, 31, of Hollandale, Miss., was killed in the Dec. 3 crash of a Marine Corps CH-46 helicopter in Iraq, announced DOD Tuesday. An Air Force statement said Evans was a civil engineer explosive ordnance flight commander deployed to Balad AB, Iraq, from Cannon AFB, N.M. He was one of 16 people aboard the Marine helicopter when it made an emergency landing in Lake Qadishiyah in western al Anbar Province. Evans was one of four who did not survive the crash. Officials do not believe the aircraft was shot down, but an investigation is underway.
Today’s armament maintainers are tasked with performing flightline (O-Level) maintenance with an assortment of legacy test sets that greatly limit the ability to quickly and efficiently verify armament system readiness, diagnose failures, and ultimately return the aircraft to full mission...