SOLDIERS CHARGED IN CHOPPER CRASH THAT KILLED TWO WIVES

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — Three soldiers have been charged with
involuntary manslaughter for taking two of their wives for an
unauthorized ride on an Army helicopter that crashed in the Bahamas,
killing both women.

Chief Warrant Officers David E. Guido and Daniel P. Riddell and Sgt.
William E. Westgate, all stationed at Fort Stewart's Hunter Army
Airfield in Savannah, had been sent to the Bahamas to take part in an
anti-drug program with the Bahamian government.

They took Guido's wife, Pam, and Riddell's wife, Rebecca, for a ride
on their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter July 6. The women were killed and
the three men seriously injured when the chopper crashed on Grand
Exuma Island.

"There's no provision for the family members to be aboard an Army
aircraft that we know of that applied in this circumstance,'' Fort
Stewart spokesman Rich Olson said Monday.

The charges against Guido, Riddell and Westgate include conspiracy,
involuntary manslaughter, making false official statements,
dereliction of duty and destruction of military property.

The charges were filed Friday and announced by the Army on
Monday.

Olson said the conspiracy charges were related to the plans the men
made for the unauthorized flight.

"I don't think there was anything really sinister here,'' Olson said.
"I think it was just a bad decision.''

All three men have recovered from their injuries and will remain on
duty pending a decision by higher-ups on whether to court-martial
them. That decision will be made by their brigade commander after an
investigative officer determines the validity of the charges.

Guido and Riddell were the UH-60's pilots. Westgate was the crew
chief.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry