"I would reject wave and crisis," McKenzie said. "Those are mishaps that occurred and we are going to look at each one in turn. Each one is tragic. We regret each one. We will look at them carefully. I am certainly not prepared to say it is a wave of mishaps or some form of crisis. No, I'm not prepared to say that."
As McKenzie explained, mishaps, or accidents, are going to happen in military aviation, particularly when flying in low visibility conditions.
On Tuesday, a US AV-8B Harrier jet crashed while taking off from an airport in Djibouti and a Marine CH-53 helicopter carried out a hard landing in Arta Beach. No US personnel were injured in either incident.
Following the crash, the government of Djibouti has put a hold on all US military flights after incidents involving two aircraft in two days, according to NBC News, citing three US defense officials. The aircraft which are now grounded are located at a base that is crucial to the US operations in Yemen and Somalia.
READ MORE: US Marines' Jet Crashes in East Africa — Naval Forces Central Command
Also on Tuesday, a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a training mission in California, killing four Marines.
READ MORE: Four US Marines Feared Dead in Helicopter Crash in Southern California — Reports
On Wednesday, a Thunderbird pilot was killed when his F-16 aircraft crashed. The Thunderbirds are the US Air Force's elite aerobatic performance team.
READ MORE: F-16 Jet Crashes During Training Mission in Nevada
