Here's the Story


Published October 25, 2007 11:06 pm - Anyone in Meadville who wanted to know what the U.S. Army’s primary attack helicopter looks like from an attackee’s perspective only had to look skyward early Thursday night, as an AH-64 Apache made an unexpected visit and alarmed enough people that about 100 concerned calls were placed to local law enforcement.

Apache helicopter causes concern throughout Meadville



By Mary Spicer

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Anyone in Meadville who wanted to know what the U.S. Army’s primary attack helicopter looks like from an attackee’s perspective only had to look skyward early Thursday night, as an AH-64 Apache made an unexpected visit and alarmed enough people that about 100 concerned calls were placed to local law enforcement.

Beginning around 6 p.m., the AH-64 Apache helicopter hovered over downtown for approximately an hour, checking out the area in preparation for a formal visit scheduled for Nov. 8.

At the invitation of Fred Cunningham of the Crawford County Office of Veterans Services, the Johnstown-based 1st Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment of the Army National Guard will be sending at least one AH-64 to Meadville for a fly-over kicking off the three-day “Through a Veteran’s Eye” salute Nov. 8 to 10 at the Community Center of Crawford County.

The next time an Apache is expected over Meadville is Nov. 8 at 8:45 a.m., Cunningham said Thursday night. “It took a little finagling, but I finally got one lined up. I’ve been working on it for months.”

What Cunningham didn’t know was that a practice run was scheduled for Thursday.

Neither did Meadville Police Department, where the phone literally rang off the hook for as long as the helicopter stayed in the sky. Pennsylvania State Police’s Meadville barracks was also deluged with calls.

According to City Police Dispatcher Terry Coleman, approximately 100 calls were received, many from parents who said they weren’t going to let their children go trick-or-treating with the giant helicopter hovering in the air. Shortly before 7 p.m., Detective Sgt. Craig Gump advised the Tribune that the chopper was “apparently part of a National Guard training mission out of Johnstown — probably some type of homeland-security-type training.”

Multiple phone calls of our own later, the Tribune was able to reach Chief Warrant Officer Steven Price in Johnstown, who revealed the rest of the story.

There are good reasons people responded to the mysterious appearance with concern. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the twin-engine, four-bladed, multi-mission Apache attack helicopter was designed to serve as a highly-stable aerial weapons-delivery platform. Designed to fight during the day, at night and in whatever adverse weather conditions the world can throw at it, the Apache’s principal mission, according to the federation, is the destruction of high-value targets with the deadly Hellfire missile. Each Apache can carry up to 16 Hellfires, each with a range of more than 8,000 meters. The Hellfire is used primarily for the destruction of hard material targets such as tanks and armored vehicles.