Spring Break
Former Corps student dies in Black Hawk helicopter crash
Memorial service today for Zachary Cook, victim of accident.
By: Nicole Alvarado
Issue date: 1/20/09 Section: News
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Cook was a casualty of the helicopter crash on campus Jan. 12. Funeral services took place Saturday at First Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas.
Cook, 22, was a Lufkin native and had graduated in December, according to University Relations. He was a newly commissioned Army officer on temporary assignment with the ROTC cadre at A&M and had served in Company D-1 of the Corps of Cadets as a student.
Seating for the service will begin at 4:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
Texas Military Forces announced Thursday that Staff Sgt. Charles C. Mitts, who was also onboard the aircraft, died because of injuries from the crash. The Spring, Texas, native was 42 years old.
The Texas National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crashed around 3 p.m. on Duncan Field. The aircraft was participating in the ROTC Winter Field Training Exercises at the University, alongside 190 cadets in the University's Corps of Cadets program.
The UH-60 Black Hawk had a crew of five onboard, none of which were students.
The Texas National Guard identified the injured as 1st Lt. Ellis W. Taylor, 31; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew J. Smith, 41; and Sgt. Richard D. Ravenscraft, 24. According to National Guard officials, Smith was in critical condition and Taylor and Ravenscraft were in stable condition.
Taylor was a former student, serving in the Corps from 1995 to 1999 in Company E-1.
One student, a member of the Corps of Cadets, was reported slightly injured by flying debris during the crash. A name will not be released because of the low intensity scale of the injury, according to a Texas A&M representative.
All the injured have been moved to St. Joseph's Hospital or the College Station Medical Center.
Eyewitnesses said at approximately 3 p.m., two helicopters were seen taking off from Duncan Field. It appeared that one of the two lost control shortly afterward and dove to the ground, spraying debris all over the field and the intersection of George Bush Drive and Coke Street.
"About 3, one took off directly to the north. The other one started taking off to the south, did a hard left and plummeted right back down to the ground," said Ron Duensing, senior electrician of utilities at Texas A&M.
Duensing and a few other workers rushed to the scene and began to help those inside the fallen aircraft before emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
"We all took off running as fast as we could toward the helicopter," he said. "We knew it wasn't on fire yet, so we tried to get all the people out."
A press release from Texas A&M stated the rudder failed during takeoff. Debris was reported as covering much of Duncan Field, as well as Throckmorton and Lewis streets. The helicopter has since been removed from the field.
"Our initial response was to send quite a few people out because we initially had reports of multiple fatalities," an EMT official said.
When asked if there had been any personnel from the military or the Corps on-hand in case of such an emergency, he said it generally wasn't part of the procedure.
Col. Bill Meehan, spokesman for Texas Military Forces, said the aircraft had been providing transportation to and from Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, for participants in the training program.
Elsa A. Murano, president of A&M, released an official message on behalf of the University expressing condolences for all affected by the accident. She cited that shortly after the crash, the University's Code Maroon emergency notification system was activated, sending out mass amounts of e-mails and text messages alerting those connected to the system of the accident.
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