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US Army Base to Review Flight Patterns After Chopper Drops Ammo on Texas School

Military officials at Texas' Fort Bliss are reviewing the base's aviation routes after one of its UH-60 Black Hawk choppers mistakenly dropped a can of ammo onto a local elementary school.
Sputnik

Speaking to Military.com, Col. Stephen Murphy, a garrison commander at the base, said officials would use the incident to review their flight patterns.

"Although finding the root cause of any accident can sometimes prove to be elusive, the fact that one of our helicopters… inadvertently [released] an ammunition container from 1,000 feet can be classified as avoidable," Murphy said in an article published Monday. "Fortunately, no one was injured and there was no loss of life."

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"The unexpected can sometimes afford us a unique opportunity to review our safety posture. In this case, we are re-evaluating how we can avoid these types of accidents in the future and ensure they do not happen again," he added.

Citing crew training, practice and safety checks, Murphy stressed that "there are always preventative measures that can be taken to address, avoid and improve the way we do business."

According to SoFrep News, the ammo that fell onto Texas' Parkland Elementary School weighed approximately 40 pounds, "but carried enough force to cause serious damage."

​As Sputnik previously reported, no one was present in the classroom at the time of the May 17 incident since classes had already been dismissed for the day.

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