Strong gales recently spread through US Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida and caused damage to 41 new TH-73 Thrasher training helicopters in mid-May 2024, according to a Navy spokesman.

The following statement was issued by the Commander, Naval Air Training Command (CNATRA):

“On May 13, at approximately 10:35 a.m. CST, a significant weather event involving high winds up to 71 knots (gusting) caused damage to 41 TH-73 Thrasher helicopters assigned to Training Air Wing (TAW) 5. No injury to personnel occurred during the incident and there has been no reported damage to any TH-57 Sea Ranger or T-6 Texan II aircraft positioned on the flight line. All aircraft were parked aboard Naval Air Station Whiting Field during the incident. The full extent of the resources needed to restore the fleet has not yet been finalized, however, repairs are not expected to exceed a month. No operational impact to the CNATRA mission is expected due to the availability of CNATRA’s fleet of TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopters that remain undamaged.” 

The TH-73A is built by Leonardo’s at their Philadelphia plant by subsidiary AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp, and is the military training variant of the AW119.

The US Navy has ordered a total of 130 TH-73A helicopters to date, to replace the Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger in the training role for US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard,  Deliveries started in August 2021 to unit TAW-5 (Training Air Wing Five), and training operations began in earnest in September 2022.  Deliveries are expected to lead to completely replace the TH-57B/C  fleet during fiscal 2025 and serve through 2050, according to the Navy.