Spokesman: Cobra was accidentally bombed - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Spokesman: Cobra was accidentally bombed

An AH-1W Super Cobra reported to have crashed while participating in an exercise in Jordan last month was actually on the ground when an AV-8B Harrier dropped a bomb near the attack helicopter, a 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit spokesman has confirmed.

A UH-1N Huey on the ground also was damaged in the May 26 incident, Capt. Will Klumpp wrote in an e-mail Friday.

“The aircraft were operating at a live ordnance range,” Klumpp wrote. “There was a small amount of the damage to the Huey that was nearby, but it was not disabled. The aircraft were not participating in bilateral training at the time of the mishap.”

The Cobra’s two-man crew was injured and transported to medical facilities in Amman for treatment.

“The two Marine pilots from the Cobra have returned home to be joined by their families as they continue treatment,” Klumpp wrote. “One pilot is expected to return to full duty shortly.”

He declined to give additional details pending an investigation.

The mishap was originally reported as a crash during a routine training mission, according to a May 29 Associated Press report, which quoted a spokesman with Naval Forces Central Command.

“The crash occurred Friday night south of Al Qatranah, near King Faisal Air Base, in an uninhabited area,” AP quoted Navy Lt. John Gay as saying. A press release from the MEU dated May 26, the day of the incident, referred to it only as a “mishap.”

The aircraft are from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264, based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.

A spokesman with Marine Corps Forces Central Command referred questions about the incident to the 26th MEU, which is en route to Camp Lejeune, N.C., following a routine, six-month deployment.