Lt. Wesley Van Dorn was a dedicated Navy pilot who tragically lost his life while flying the MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. Known for its heavy-lift capabilities, this aircraft also has a devastating history of crashes and safety failures, making it one of the most dangerous helicopters in military aviation.
He exposed the design flaws, maintenance oversights, and systemic issues that contributed to these accidents. Lt. Van Dorn’s story sheds light on the human cost of these failures and raises important questions about accountability and safety in the armed forces.
This isn’t just a story about a helicopter; it’s about a man who fought for safer conditions for his crew, a family grappling with loss, and a system that repeatedly ignored warnings. For
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NO SIR THEY ARE NOT FIXED!! WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!!
Anything is possible!
Delivery of the 53 began in '66, not 86. It was sent to Viet Nam in 67. The version used in this story may have been intro'd in '86.All in all, poor maintenance is the culprit in this tragedy.
My husband was in the USMC in the 4 years of 1980. He has told me some horrible stories & things that have happened to him while he was serving. All these employees just want are answers!
Such a shame such a sad sad Shame, am ex British Royal Navy, the top brass should of had the balls to go against the politicians and grounded all these helicopters, but money is always going to win through from political side , and risk of careers from top brass is the same
Absolutely disgusting
I was one of LT Van Dorn's flight instructors during Navy primary flight training. He was a good kid, solid student aviator, at least the couple of times I flew with him. As for what happened, nothing new in how the service treats those platforms that don't drop bombs, have a pointy nose. Nothing is done until someone dies.
Who’s worse than the mafia? Who’s worse than the cartels? Clearly the government when they have something to hide! 🙈
Who’s worse than the mafia? Who’s worse than the cartels? Clearly the government when they have something to hide! 🙈
In the West we love to make fun about the sometimes very disappointing, sometimes semi catastrophic performances of Russian equipment due to "large scale corruption" within the Russian armed forces…. While "defense" spending in the West look to the same extend a large scale well organised white collar rip off. Notice that the super rich, who always cry out louder than ACDC's frontman for tax cut NEVER include drastic cuts in militairy spending. I'm all for a solid defense. I'm not for paying planes, trucks, canons etc. 300 % more than we actually should. Even the GAO acknowledges that it is rather strange that a coffee machine in a B 52 costs many times more than it would cost to buy it in a store, let alone ordering them directly from the producers…. Folks, we're getting seriously misled while the national anthem plays and the stars and stripes, the Union Jack or whatever tricolore is waving in the wind. With the artificially swollen defense expenditures, we could achieve full employment, a roof for everyone and no children dying anymore due to lack of medical aid. Apparantly, In Greed We Trust….
this not only goes on in your country here in Australia we have had a similar problem with a helicopter that killed 4 men, you wonder why people go into the military when you know they use you as a number and use the cheapest way possible for maintenance, and not always get you the appropriate machines, cost cost is all the government cares about
On 7 February 2024, five U.S. marines were killed after a CH-53E crashed in San Diego County, California, U.S.
Hundreds die in the military every year in accidents and not in war. When will people understand that military is just a tool for the rich and don't care how many that dies. There will always come new that are manipulated to die for freedom and the safety of America. And in the end they just provids with creating wars and provokes that makes more enemies and more dead. For what? Well for sure it is 100% for the oil, weapons industry, and American banks. Freedom and safely is just bs
It must be a dream for any leaders, presidents, generals, CEOs, corporations owners to have a lot of people stupid and manipulated to do what they say and demand. Look at Hitler, Bush, Trump, Mao, Stalin, and a lot more… Their leadershit is only possible because of some rich support and many stupid people that jumping if their leader say jump.
So more than 100 crew die in 53's by 2013, none from enemy fire, while Gen John Davis retires in comfort claiming he 'didn't really know' what was wrong?
To the Navy/Marine top brass: this whole situation is FUBAR! Defund, delay, deny until there is death! Change careers into politics! You’re well adept at lying!
My father, may he rest in peace, was a WWII U.S.C.G. veteran. He served in the European Theater, was awarded a Good Conduct Medal, and selected from a nationwide group to help crew the newly built U.S.S. Muskegon. As his daughter, I am absolutely revolted at your own shameful dereliction of duty!
The true warriors are Lt. Van Dorn’s widow/family, his crew members, and all family and loved ones now living without their beloved service members, due to the criminal negligence of their superiors.
May all of those who perished rest in peace.
" . . . . .the finest aircraft built by man". That's right, 'The Greatest Country in the World ". I keep on forgetting.( It's so easy to).
Wouldn’t be surprised… this can happen in any government agency. You would think they like someone pointing out a problem, however it is completely opposite. The executive branch of government is setup for failure and promote hiding problems. There are the people appointed by the President, that want to keep problems within the government hidden, so the President (any party) looks good. Then you have middle managers that want that senior appointment… know they must hide issues or they will never be trusted at the top to hide them.
Then you have the young government employee (civil or military) that want to make things better, so they incorrectly think ‘blowing the whistle’ on problems is a good idea.
It never is.
The US Navy has a reputation of air crashes. Finest aircraft indeed.
TRAGIC, NO FREAK ACCIDENT! My bro was repeatedly exposed to lead paint, while in navy. They refused to check him for lead exposure. His sick bay records "disappeared ".
Since you're mentioning sikorsky, maybe ya'll cover the 2 groundings, of the blackhawks, by 1984, the 2nd of which killed the other 4 paratroopers i graduated with, from Harmony Church in 1984..way more dead than from the c-53's. Like Way Fuckin More…⚡️
Air Force is the place to fly.
How sad. Can America make herself look worse? When the military fails so badly, where does that leave the rest of us? And, most importantly, our men and women in uniform?
Imagine how much more humans could achieve if we didn't have to put a third of our resources towards defense from other humans. If we could all agree to not attack one another we could divert all that military money to curing cancer, ending homelessness, etc
Were the 132 that dies since the 60’s all mechanical crashes??
Well leaving equipment overseas does not work. 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
We always lose our best men early.
40 hours of maintenance for just 1 hour of mission flight? If that doesn't say it all, then nothing will. The fact that the government, and the military know this as well as the crews that fly and maintain this failure is another stunning testimony to the ignorance and corruption of them all. "Just get it done" equates to "Just going die!"
Accountability is paramount in everything. The military demands that from recruits. Shouldn’t the chain of command be held accountable?
Lack of accountability leads to a breakdown of command. The military has a gigantic budget, with so much wasted money being pissed away with Defense Contractors. The root cause has to do with how the government requires Defense Contractors to charge based on headcount. A Defense Contractor like General Dynamics gets paid on headcount. The more ants the contractor has working on a project and longer the project takes the more the contractor makes. This leads to massive overruns in both costs and time. Which translates to lack of money to fix old “stuff”. Like the damn wiring in these Super Stallions.
To solve the problem you can’t get lost in the weeds of the details of this incident. That’s not going to bring these boys back. You have to overhaul the Government’s process of paying the Defense Contractors. If the massive budget overruns were better managed the money would have been there to replace these antiquated helicopters. That would have prevented this crash, the other crashes, and allowed these boys to come home.
Why didnt they use ductape instead?
Any aircraft that went down and carried a MH signature was downed deliberately arguably MH370 being the most known and famous of them!
I was delivered dreaded news from a chaplain in Ft Eustis. Different circumstances but you know when you see chaplains, life as you knew it is over. I’m so sorry for anyone who has or will experience that.