Following a helicopter crash in Mississippi that killed two soldiers, the Army National Guard has ordered an aviation safety stand down for officials to review policies and procedures.
Bryan Andrew Zemek, 36, and Derek Joshua Abbott, 42, both lost their lives when the AH-64 Apache they were flying went down in Prentiss County during a routine training flight on Friday. Both men were husbands and fathers.
In a release from the National Guard, Lt. Gen. Jon A. Jensen said the stand down went into effect Monday.
“We are a combat force with helicopters training or on mission worldwide every day,” Jensen, the Guard’s director, said. “Safety is always at the top of our minds. We will stand down to ensure all of our crews are prepared as well as possible for whatever they’re asked to do.”
The crash in Mississippi came in the aftermath of one in Utah on Feb. 12 that left two pilots injured. That flight was also on a training mission when it went down.
Currently, nearly 45,000 National Guard men and women are deployed. The stand down does not have an end date as of now.
