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                         August 30, 2002

USMA graduate killed in Apache accident

Compiled by Irene Brown
Editor

The bodies of two Army pilots, one of them a U.S. Military Academy graduate, were found Aug. 23 in South Korea, more than a day after their chopper was reported missing on a training flight.

Officials from the 8th Army, whose headquarters is in Seoul, identified the pilots as USMA Class of 2000 graduate 1st Lt. Dustin Shannon, 23, and Chief Warrant Officer James Wallenburg, 40. Both were from B Troop, 1st Battalion, 6th Cavalry Brigade.

Defense officials said the crash site was about 13 miles south of Camp Page, an American base at Chuncheon, 50 miles east of Seoul, the South Korean Capital.

The AH-64A Apache attack helicopter had taken off early in the morning of Aug. 22. The pilots were flying the helicopter to their base at Camp Eagle in Wonju, about 55 miles southeast of Seoul, when they slammed into a hillside above a car tunnel. No civilians on the ground were injured, officials said.

The air and ground search, which was launched Aug. 22, was hindered by rain and heavy fog. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

AH-64A Apaches are two-seat helicopters made by Boeing. They are the Army’s main attack helicopters and were used in the 1991 Gulf War, peacekeeping in Bosnia and currently in Afghanistan. The aircraft carry Hellfire missiles, 70mm rockets, Stinger air-to-air missiles and a 30mm machine gun.

Editor’s note: Some information for this article came from the ARMYOCS news page.