Gary Melvin Tinkham ⁵²⁸³

Seattle Daily Times
Seattle, Washington
Thursday, October 20, 1983
by Thomas Guillen
Times Staff Reporter

Helicopter in fatal crash had been trouble free

The fiery crash that took the life of four airmen in Lewis County is the first accident involving Fort Lewis and the Army's new UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter, say Army officials.

"We have had the Black Hawk since 1981 and this is our first fatal accident," said Doug Makitten, a civilian spokesman for Fort Lewis, the major army base in the state.

Killed in the Tuesday night crash were two crewmen -- Chief Warrant Officer Gary Tinkham, 28, Monmouth, Maine, and Warrant Officer 1, Michael Stewart, 33, Rantoul, Ill. -- and two passengers -- Sgt. John Bourassa, 28, Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Spec 4 Robert Young, 19, York, Pa.

The Black Hawk, introduced as a replacement for the famed UH-1H Huey helicopter, is an assault transport chopper designed to carry a squad of 13 infantrymen and their equipment.

The helicopter is manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, Conn., which issued its first models to the Army in 1978.

The helicopter that crashed about 9 p.m. Tuesday five miles northwest of Packwood was on a routine, low flying night training mission calling for it to fly at 100 to 200 feet above the ground, said Makitten.

Although the cause is under investigation by Fort Lewis and a special investigative team from Fort Rucker, Ala., speculation among Packwood officials was that the chopper might have hit a tree top.

"We have had no prior mechanical problems with any of the three helicopters on the training mission," Makitten said.

"The three helicopters were flying in a line when all of a sudden the one in the middle disappeared into the trees," Packwood Fire Chief Bud Panco said. "There was no radio contact as I understand it. Everything was going normal. Suddenly the chopper in back told the lead chopper that the center one had gone into the trees."

Panco said his information came from the lead pilot; who quickly landed and contacted the fire department.

"There were pieces all over the place ... that chopper literally fell apart," said Panco.

The helicopter ended up on a steep, wooded ridge. Its rotor was found about 100 feet down the hill near Skate Creek.

The crash started a small fire that was quickly extinguished by a Lewis County rural fire department.

*****
Lewiston Daily Sun
Lewiston, Maine
Saturday, October 22, 1983
p. 2

Gary Tinkham

WALES - US Army Chief Warrant Officer W2 Gary Tinkham, 27, died Tuesday in a helicopter crash in Washington.

He was born Nov. 28, 1955, in Lewiston, the son of Melvin and Grace (Thompson) Tinkham. He was educated in Wales and graduated from Monmouth Academy and attended Thomas College. He was an outstanding athlete at both schools. He was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington, with Company C Nineth Division as a helicopter pilot.

Survivors include his wife, Dorothea of Ft. Lewis and Germany; his father and mother of Wales; four sisters, Mrs. Judy Edgecomb of Wales, Gale Theriault of Waterboro, Wendy Bowman of Keller, Texas and Cheryl Clary of Barre, Vt.

  Events

• He was ill with the measles in 1964.

Gary married Living