The landing of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, scheduled for Jan. 20 at The University of Tampa’s intramural field was cancelled.
According to Lt. Col Jim Smallidge, UT Army ROTC recruiting and operations officer, the landing was cancelled due to administrative and readiness issues on the aviation units end, but will be rescheduled to a later date.
The helicopter visit, sponsored’ by The University of Tampa Army ROTC, was intended to develop interest in the ROTC program and U.S. Army Reserve aviation branch, as well as recognize the first day of spring semester at UT.
A similar event at Texas A’amp;M University in December ended tragically, leaving one dead and five injured.
An identical helicopter to the one scheduled to land at UT was participating in the ROTC Winter Field Training Exercises at the University, and crashed shortly after takeoff in the ground next to the campus.
A press release from Texas A’amp;M stated the rudder of the helicopter apparently failed during the takeoff procedure, leading to the accident.
There is currently no reason to believe that the crash at Texas A’amp;M and the cancelling of the helicopter landing at UT are related.
Thiago Queiroz can be reached at thiagoq00@gmail.com
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