I'm helping a friend research an accident that happened in the southern training area on August 15, 1980. A soldier was hit by the tail rotor of a Huey helicopter and killed. My friend observed the accident and has been bothered by it for a long time. He does not remember the soldier's name, as he was in a different unit. Any help finding out some info to help my friend get some measure of closure would be great.

Suggested research leads?

Both my friend and the deceased soldier were in the 4th ID, but different units within. Are unit diaries or records available online?

My friend is 67 years old and not good with computers/internet, so I offered to help out.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd call or email the Colorado Springs newspaper and tell them your story.  I bet they have microfiche from back then that someone could look through for you.

I was there then, and remember hearing about it.  I was also about 10 days from ETSing, so unfortunately i didn’t pay much attention to it.  B co. 1-12 infantry.  Good luck.

Freedom of Information Act request to Army Safety Center for a redacted report.

Done. Thank you!

Armyaircrews.com
Checked out Huey, Chinook and Kiowa...no joy...
But under Cobra:

D troop 1-10 CAV
14 Aug 80
AH-1G
#70-15970
A/C completed mission and returned to parking area for shutdown. Armament team began servicing A/C during shutdown when team member ran into the T/R while performing his duties.

That is amazing! Thank you VERY much!

I found a newspaper article from the day after the accident that said "gunship". I thought it was typical newspaper error since my guy said it was a Huey. It was almost 40 years ago, so memories fade...

I also found a record of an accidental death on that date, the only Army fatality in the US that day. The deceased's MOS is listed as a 68M, which is a cook? Why would a cook be tending to a helo?

Devil Dog,
I was with the Garry Owen (if you went to the ArmyAirCrews.com site and focused on Cobra incidents, you saw our crest, unfortunately, a lot... in the Land of the Morning Calm when we had AH-1G's at that same time, and then followed on with the Thunderhorse in Fulda when we had AH-1S (modified) and AH-1S (Fully Modernized).  Rearming Cobras tended to draw more than just our armament types...as they tended to focus on the turret weapons, or the XM35 20mm on the left inboard....humping 2.75mm rockets could be, and often was a team effort...and frankly, loading a Cobra when she sits at flight idle, especially at night, was a rather emotional and exciting event.

Something you had to watch for though, unlike the UH-1H Huey or OH-58, the tail rotor on a Cobra was on the right side....just sayin, rearming a Gun, day or night was dangerous and exciting as all get out, but if unfamiliar, one could get misoriented.  I assume the incident you were concerned about happened at Pinyon Canyon?  I've never been at Carson, but we did have a guy in Fulda who was one of the few survivors of a Huey crash at Carson.

The only location info I have right now is "southern training area". Hoping the FOIA request comes through with more details. My buddy remembers someone yelling to the kid that he was going the wrong direction, so maybe inexperienced or disoriented?

Nearly all the training areas there are South of the main base.  There was a huge helo hangar just a few miles south of base though.