Who Killed Lt VanDorn
This week on the RealClearDefense podcast "Hot Wash" a look at the documentary, “Who Killed Lt. VanDorn?” In a January 2014 training exercise off the coast of Virginia, pilot Lt. Wes VanDorn, his co-pilot Lt. Sean Snyder, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Collins died when VanDorn’s MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter caught fire and crashed into the frigid Atlantic. The MH-53E is the Navy’s largest, oldest, and most deadly aircraft. Today, we speak with Zach Stauffer, director of the feature documentary, “Who Killed Lt. VanDorn?” which explores Wes’s story and the investigation into why this aging aircraft with a known deadly track record continues to fly. We are also joined by Wes’ widow Nicole VanDorn whose efforts helped spur the inquiry into the institutional failings that led to her husband’s death, and by Chris Humme, Navy mechanic and aircraft maintainer on the MH-53E.