Two Army Copters Crash on Night-Vision Training Mission; One Dead, Three Injured

FT. ORD, Calif. — Pilots of two Army helicopters that crashed at Ft. Ord on Wednesday night were on a training mission with night-vision goggles, an Army spokesman said Thursday.

Capt. Michael D. Scotton, 28, of Laytonsville, Md., son of Peace Corps official David R. Scotton, was killed.

Another soldier suffered multiple fractures and two others were released after treatment of minor injuries.

Investigators from the Army Safety Center in Ft. Rucker, Ala., were trying to determine whether the helicopters, with two soldiers aboard each, collided before they went down 150 yards apart, said Army spokesman Jim Davis.

“They were on a night-goggle training mission,” Davis said. “They signed out for the goggles but we don’t know if they were wearing them at the time of the accident.”

The crashes occured a few hours after Rep. Frank McCloskey (D-Ind.), said a House subcommittee will investigate a series of accidents involving the military’s use of night-vision goggles.

In Wednesday’s accident, Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Tracy J. Gray, 27, suffered multiple fractures but was in stable condition Thursday at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco.

Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Benjamin C. Graves, 28, and Warrant Officer 1st Class Cliff L. Walters, 24, were treated for minor bumps and cuts at Ft. Ord and released.