Accident during combat caused April Cobra crash

[thedrifter]

August 14, 2003

Accident during combat caused April Cobra crash

Associated Press


A helicopter crash that killed two Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Marines in Iraq earlier this year was ruled an accident that happened as fighting went on nearby, one victim?s widow said Wednesday.
A Marine Corps report showed that Capt. Travis Ford, 30, of Oceanside, Calif., was in the front seat of a Super Cobra attack helicopter when its rotor clipped a communication tower the night of April 5, said his wife, Deon Ford. The craft went down, killing Ford and Capt. Benjamin Sammis, 29, of Vista

The Super Cobra was in a three-helicopter formation protecting Marines on the ground who were under attack by Iraqi tanks, Mrs. Ford said Wednesday.

She said her husband was classified as killed in action because there was fighting on the ground.

Mrs. Ford, 28, said she had been told of the report?s findings, which noted that warning lights on the sand-colored tower had been removed, making it virtually invisible at night.

Knowing what happened to her husband in the Iraqi desert helps bring some closure, said Mrs. Ford, who lives in Oceanside with the couple?s 2-year-old daughter.

?There?s no way to ever take comfort in losing your husband, but knowing more details is always better,? Mrs. Ford said.

?Your mind always lets you go to the worst-case scenario. Knowing that it was over quickly and that there was no way for them to see it can bring me some type of comfort,? she said.

Ford was born and raised in Ogallala, Neb., where he graduated from high school in 1991. He graduated in 1996 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.






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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.


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