'CRANK' or 'Horse'

This is a memorial for people to leave thoughts, stories, and condolences about my brother, a U.S. Navy helo pilot who left us way too early. Godspeed bro! My family would like to thank all of you who visit, who knew my brother, who served with him, who flew with him, and encouraged him. He was loved by many, but I was proud to call him brother.

A special thanks to everybody at HSC-25 for their support and their wives for supporting my brother's wife through this tragedy. I'd also like to thank Guam Fire Dept. SAR, Guam Police Dept., the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.

Please leave comments, stories, and pictures by emailing them to shaunhescock@comcast.net. I will create posts out of them. Please also leave your name. Thank you.

The letter I prepared for Christian's Memorial

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being here at this memorial to my brother, Lt. Christian John Hescock. I am sorry that I could not attend.

I loved my brother very much and I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of him and his various accomplishments throughout the years.

When I think of my brother I can’t help but think of the US Navy, and all the opportunities the Navy has given him. They took a gawky kid, who had some rough talent and forged him into a man drawing those various rough talents to the surface and molding him into the sailor and officer we all knew. To me, the US Navy and my brother represent four qualities: Excellence, duty, honor, sacrifice.

All of you here today have sacrificed to get where you are. The duties and missions you undertake are dangerous in nature and there is a real chance that you may not make it home. You know this, but you persevere and do your duty anyway. You all have my sincere admiration. You are all part of an amazing tradition of excellence, duty, honor, and sacrifice that harkens back to the birth of our nation. You make manifest the vision that President Abraham Lincoln had on November 19, 1863 when he spoke these famous words…

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Our Union is a legacy that the men and women of the US Navy have helped keep alive since October 13, 1775. You are all a part of that legacy, I am proud that my brother is also a part of that great tradition.

I can only hope that his memory and his life will inspire you and drive you to excellence in your careers and your lives. Live them to the fullest.

In conclusion, please let me say that I would like to tell my sister-in-law Ruth that I love you very much and though we didn’t spend a lot of time together, I think of you very highly. My brother was the fortunate one in the relationship and there was no doubt in my mind when I met you that you were the one for him.

Pete & Peggy Lance, my brother loved you both very much and I always felt like I was a part of your family as well. Thank you for your support and your love for my brother.

I would like to recognize Jonathon Fletcher and Thomas Butts. You were more than just friends to my brother. You were his brothers and he loved you both as such. I ought to know.

I would also like to thank LCDR David Orlosky, LCDR Bruce Nolan, & Commander Pat Everly for taking care of Ruth and my brother and for being there for our family day or night.

Thank you to the Navy wives, you are the cornerstone that keeps the home fires burning and you give your spouses the peace of mind to concentrate on their duties. Thank you for being there for Ruth. You are all outstanding.

I'd also like to thank Guam Fire Dept. Search and Rescue, Guam Police Dept., the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.

Thank you HSC-25 (Two Five) for your input on my brother’s memorial site, for your kind words, for your pictures, stories, thoughts, and prayers. HSC-25 will have a special place in my heart.

May God bless you all and keep you safe through your various deployments and assignments. I salute all of you.

Shaun Hescock

Go Island Knights

Go Navy

Hoorah!!

My Brother's Helo Goes Down - My brother, LT Christian Hescock is dead.

Sept. 24, 2007, 10:26PM
Navy helicopter crash in Guam kills 1. Three other crew members injured.

HAGATNA, Guam — A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed late Monday during a training mission in Guam, killing one of four people on board, the Navy said.

The helicopter from the Sea Combat 25 squadron crashed into the Fena Reservoir on Navy property near Naval Magazine in Santa Rita.

Three members of the crew were rescued and transported to the island territory's Navy hospital. Lt. Donnell Evans, a Navy spokesman, said one crew member had a broken arm while the other two were treated for minor injuries.

The body of the fourth crew member was recovered from the water, Guam Fire Department spokesman Angel Llagas said. The names of the crew members were not released.

The helicopter squadron in Guam is the Navy's only one of its type. Its mission includes resupplying ships and providing 24-hour search and rescue and evacuation services for the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Navy identifies crew member who died in Guam helicopter crash
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition,
The Navy has identified the crewmember killed in Monday night’s helicopter crash on U.S. Naval Base Guam.
Lt. Christian Hescock, 34, died about two hours after the MH-60 Seahawk crashed into Fena Reservoir at about 10:30 p.m., during a training mission, said Lt. Donnell Evans, a Naval Base Guam spokesman.
Hescock, whose position was not released, was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.
Evans said the remaining three crewmembers, all men, were hurt in the crash, including a 27-year-old who suffered a dislocated shoulder. The other two, identified only as being ages 27 and 20, sustained minor injuries.
All were treated at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. Evans could not confirm Tuesday whether any of the servicemembers had been released.
The helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, stationed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
Evans said Tuesday he had no more details on the cause of the crash.
“Right now, we’re still in the recovery and investigative phases,” he said. “The majority of the aircraft is submerged. … Once we’re able to recover the aircraft, we can start the investigation.”
Evans said a memorial service for Hescock may be held in the coming days.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Navy Times Article: Investigation Report




















Here is a recently released investigation report that was published in Navy Times. I am haunted by the paragraph that states that he was unstrapped from his seat, but his emergency breathing device was still in his vest. I don't have much else to say about this, I need to let it sink in.

NAVY TIMES ARTICLE


Crew errors led to fatal Seahawk crash


By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 23, 2009 5:48:36 EDT

Critical crew errors during a nighttime training mission on Guam caused the crash of an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter in September 2007, according to a recently released investigation report. The crash resulted in the drowning of the helicopter’s pilot, Lt. Christian Hescock.

Hescock, 34, was practicing a low-level rope-ladder recovery operation a few feet above the water when his aircraft’s tail struck a palm tree and crashed into the water, according to the investigation.

The investigation of the Sept. 24, 2007, mishap faulted the crew members for underestimating the risk involved in the low-level terrain flight, using the wrong control system at the time of the approach and failing to wave off when the aircraft began drifting toward a tree.

It was shortly after 10 p.m. when the helo from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, based at Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, approached the Fena Reservoir for the training mission inside Naval Ammunition Magazine Guam.

The aircraft descended over the water to about 25 feet and slowed to about 5 knots.

Problems began after one pilot instructed the other to engage the coupler, a control system that allows the crew to manually set the altitude and ground speed. But rather than engaging the coupler, the pilot instead engaged an automated control system, the report says.

Names in the investigation report provided to Navy Times were redacted, so it is unclear which pilot made the error.

That system, known as a radar altimeter hold, steadied the altitude but did not control the aircraft’s movement. The crew soon realized the helo was drifting rapidly to the right toward palm trees on a nearby spit of land.


One of the crew members saw the rotor blades approaching the trees and urgently called for power, but before the pilot could lift, the aircraft shuddered and began to yaw to the right, the report said.

The crew heard a series of loud bangs and the aircraft struck the water, left side down, nose low.

The cabin and cockpit immediately filled with water, the report says.

Using emergency breathing devices, the pilot who wasn’t Hescock and the two crew members got out of the aircraft and made it to the surface. Hescock remained trapped.

One crew member trained as a rescue swimmer tried to reach Hescock by swimming down the tail of the aircraft toward the cockpit, but he said he couldn’t see anything below the waterline because of the darkness and debris, the report says.

Emergency crews arrived shortly afterward, but divers later found Hescock’s body trapped inside the cockpit. He was unstrapped from his seat, but his emergency breathing device was still in his vest, the report says.

Doctors later determined that Hescock drowned, the report says.

The only other injury in the mishap was a broken arm, suffered by the other pilot, the report says.

The Judge Advocate General’s manual investigation was conducted by Naval Air Forces.

The investigation found that the crew’s preflight preparations incorrectly assessed the mission’s potential hazards as “low” rather than “medium.” The mission should have required a second signature from a helicopter aircraft commander.

The mishap came after a Hot Pump Crew Swap, which means the crew jumped into the aircraft immediately after a different crew had completed a training mission.

Hescock, originally from Oregon City, Ore., enlisted in the Navy in 1994, according to personnel records; he graduated from University of San Diego and received his commission in 2002.