Crew failure in crash that killed three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan

The long-awaited inquiry report found the pilot, wearing night vision goggles, was disoriented and flew too low while carrying the special forces soldiers on a raid on an insurgent stronghold in Kandahar Province on June 21 last year.


Three Australians were killed in the nation's worst wartime loss in a single day since Vietnam and seven were wounded. One US soldier also died.


The Australians killed were Privates Timothy Aplin, Benjamin Chuck and Scott Palmer.


The chief of the Australian Defence Force has apologised to the families of the dead and injured soldiers for the long delay in producing the crash investigation report.


The vice-chief of the ADF, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, released a heavily censored version of the report yesterday.


"The US investigation found that the primary cause of this helicopter crash was a lack of aircrew coordination during the approach to the designated landing zone, that led to what we refer as controlled flight into terrain," Air Marshal Binskin, said.


That type of crash occurred when an airworthy aircraft was flown unintentionally into terrain, obstacles or water, usually with no prior awareness by the crew, he said.


"In the case of this accident, the crew lost situational awareness of their rate of descent and impacted the ground with little or no prior warning.''


Seven other Australian commandos were injured in the accident, which occurred while they were taking part in a disruption operation against insurgents.


On day two of operation, four US UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were transporting personnel into the desert area.


During the final approach to the landing zone, one of the helicopters, carrying the 10 Australian soldiers and US personnel, crashed into a "slight'' embankment, Air Marshal Binskin said.


"The impact caused the helicopter to roll and the fuselage to catch fire,'' he said.


The three other helicopters landed immediately and their passengers rushed to help their comrades.


The injured were transported to nearby medical facilities within 45 minutes of the crash.


Privates Aplin and Palmer were killed instantly from multiple injuries, along with one US serviceman.


Private Chuck was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the medical facility. He had also suffered multiple wounds.


A civilian interpreter and three US servicemen were wounded.


An Australian inquiry officer was appointed on June 25, 2010, to examine the incident.


US authorities also conducted two inquiries into the crash.