AH-64 ● Apache Helicopter ● Mother's Day Microburst ● Fort Hood 1989 ● 1/24th ATKHB Vipers

Video shot in 1989 of the extensive damage caused by a microburst thunderstorm at Fort Hood in 1989 at the Apache Training Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.Show more

Learn more about the Apache Friendly Fire Incident in Desert Storm by watching the actual in-cockpit videotape: https://youtu.be/iesQorDCtFQ

View More AH-64 Apache Helicopters:
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AH-64 Apache Helicopters on Amazon: https://amzn.to/37yrwPF

WASHINGTON (AP) May 19,1989
Storm damage to helicopters and buildings at the Army’s Fort Hood in Texas will cost at least $600 million to repair, the service said Friday.

The Army said it had so far pegged last week’s storm damage to almost 200 helicopters at $585 million. Damage to buildings and other facilities was put at $15 million.

″Detailed, exact cost repair figures are not available,″ said Lt. Col. John Chapla, an Army spokesman who provided the preliminary estimate.

The storm, packing heavy rain and winds of 95 miles per hour, ravaged the area on May 13. Although there were no fatalities, the storm forced 25 military families from their quarters and damaged the helicopters and at least 20 percent of the fort’s buildings.

The damage occurred even though the Army said about half the helicopters had been placed inside hangars as the storm approached and the remainder were tied down.

Especially hard hit was the Army’s new fleet of AH-64 attack helicopters. Fort Hood is home to the Apache Training Brigade, and the damage forced the base to downgrade its state of aviation readiness.

About 100 of the fort’s 150 Apaches were damaged to some extent, and 30 or more were ″extensively damaged,″ according to the Army.

Each Apache, made by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter in Mesa, Ariz., costs about $13.4 million new. It is designed to replace the Vietnam War-era AH-1 Cobra as the nation’s premiere tank-killer and battlefield helicopter. It can carry laser-homing Hellfire missiles or Hydra 70 rockets and has a 30mm chain gun.

While the Apache fleet was hardest hit, other choppers damaged by the storm included UH-60 Blackhawk transports, UH-1 Huey transports, OH-58 observation copters, AH-1 Cobra attack copters and CH-47 transports.

Chapla said the Army had no timetable for repairs, nor did it know where the money would come from. Some discussions have been held on Capitol Hill about a supplemental appropriation, but those talks are in a very preliminary stage, Chapla said.

″We also don’t have a whole lot of experience in storm-damage repair. We have experience in crash repairs and repairs of war damage. Fixing all of these aircraft is not going to be a quick thing,″ he said.

The spokesman said the dollar estimates could climb since ″just determining everything that’s wrong is going to take time.″

Keywords:
Digital Combat Simulator World ● DCS World
Highway of Death
Desert Storm
Desert Shield
FLIR Forward Looking Infra Red Sensors

Using DCS World?
For those of you playing DCS World, this video should be helpful to see an actual Apache in action. Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) is a free-to-play combat flight simulator primarily developed by Eagle Dynamics, and the civilian version of The Battle Simulator. It includes a free simulation of the Sukhoi Su-25T Frogfoot attack aircraft and TF-51D Mustang, an unarmed training variant of the P-51D Mustang. Recent updates include the Apache attack helicopter.

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