Chinook helicopters at PA plant vandalized

[Jolie Rouge]

Chinook helicopters at Pa. plant vandalized By RANDY PENNELL, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago



RIDLEY PARK, Pa. - The Defense Department says two military helicopters at a Boeing factory near Philadelphia were vandalized on the production line.

Federal officials are handing out fliers to workers Thursday at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems plant offering a $5,000 reward in the vandalizing of the two H-47 Chinook helicopters.

The company found what it called irregularities in the helicopters Tuesday. Company officials and the military have not said what was found.

Congressman Joe Sestak says he was told that wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter. A suspicious washer was found in a second.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/boeing_shutdown_chinook;_ylt=AoTcwkGV4qnayViU5y2SR KSs0NUE

Smart. Like they can't narrow down their "suspects" and figure out who did it.....

[freeby4me]

Chinook helicopters at Pa. plant vandalized By RANDY PENNELL, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago



RIDLEY PARK, Pa. - The Defense Department says two military helicopters at a Boeing factory near Philadelphia were vandalized on the production line.

Federal officials are handing out fliers to workers Thursday at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems plant offering a $5,000 reward in the vandalizing of the two H-47 Chinook helicopters.

The company found what it called irregularities in the helicopters Tuesday. Company officials and the military have not said what was found.

Congressman Joe Sestak says he was told that wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter. A suspicious washer was found in a second.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/boeing_shutdown_chinook;_ylt=AoTcwkGV4qnayViU5y2SR KSs0NUE

Smart. Like they can't narrow down their "suspects" and figure out who did it.....

Yea really, something doesnt sound right. No cameras? No documentation on who works on what station? Seems to me like something like a militairy chopper would need to be signed off on from work station to station.

[suprtruckr]

exactly

[Jolie Rouge]

Worker charged with vandalizing military chopper
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
19 minutes ago

PHILADELPHIA - An assembly line worker upset about a pending job transfer has been charged with vandalizing a military helicopter at a Boeing factory, prosecutors said Tuesday. They said they were still trying to determine who damaged a second helicopter at the plant.

Matthew Kevin Montgomery, 33, of Trevose, cut a bundle of about 70 wires on an H-47 Chinook helicopter, U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said at a news conference.

Montgomery admitted to cutting the wires on the morning of May 10, his last day working on the Chinook line, according to an arrest affidavit. He had been a Boeing employee for 18 months. "Regardless of what his motivation was, the impact was the same," Meehan said. The helicopter would not have been able to fly with the cut wires, investigators said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Perkin agreed Tuesday to release Montgomery on $25,000 bail; the judge ordered him to live with his parents in Southampton, undergo a mental health exam and have no contact with Boeing or its employees. "He's very concerned and very remorseful," said public defender Mara Meehan. "He's been pretty upset, which is one reason why concerns have been raised about mental health."

Montgomery refused to answer questions from an Associated Press reporter outside court.

The production line was shut down last week after the vandalism was discovered by workers in the Ridley Park plant. Federal officials handed out fliers to workers, offering a $5,000 reward for information.

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., has said a suspicious washer was found in the second helicopter. A military criminal investigator described the washer as being in a place it shouldn't have been.

Meehan said authorities were still trying to determine who damaged the second helicopter. "The focus of the investigation continues to be on one or more Boeing employees," federal investigators said in a statement. "Montgomery is not currently a suspect in the second investigation."

The Chinook is the Army's workhorse aircraft and is used to transport troops and supplies. Boeing is currently producing new Chinooks for the Army, as well as updating older models.

Montgomery's arrest relieved other workers at the plant, according to the head of their union, United Auto Workers 1069. "A lot of our members are relieved saying this type of person does not belong in this facility," said John DeFrancisco, the union's president. "They feel relieved they can go back to work and not have to look over their shoulders or feel there's anybody in there doing damage."

DeFrancisco said he felt it was an individual act by someone with personal problems and had nothing to do with any contract issues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_us/boeing_shutdown_chinook;_ylt=AlYpk66i0hLCx4LBCjWN6 lBH2ocA

[freeby4me]

I dont see how vandalizing something like that would stop a job transfer, it would just make your life hell. A very stupid and now costly mistake for him.