Pilot ID’ed As Investigation Continues into Harrier crash

The pilot of the AV-8B Harrier that crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Monday afternoon was Capt. Alberto N. Bencosme.

Cherry Point released the pilot’s name Tuesday evening around 7:30. No other details concerning Capt. Bencosme were immediately released.

Bencosme died when his AV-8B Harrier crashed into a field off Highway 101 between Havelock and Harlowe, just a couple of miles from the flightline at Cherry Point.

On Tuesday, security was still tight where the plane crashed. The wreckage of the downed plane will stay in the field where it came to rest until investigators finish photographing and documenting the scene.

Investigators stayed tight-lipped about the crash Tuesday and said it could be quite some time before we know for sure what caused the Harrier to go down.

However, some members of the aviation community are speaking out on behalf of the plane, which has seen its share of criticism.

The Harrier is one of the most innovative planes in the Marine Corps fleet. It can take off and land vertically.

It’s also been one of the more criticized.

On Tuesday, both a former Harrier quality assurance representative and a current Harrier pilot told us they feel the plane is safe.

LtCol. John Rahe has spent more than 2,500 hours in the cockpit of a Harrier in the 13 years he’s flown them.

He says flying the Harrier is like driving a car with a manual gearbox—it just takes some getting used to.

“It is initially a demanding airplane,“ Rahe said. “It’s so different than a regular, conventional jet aircraft.“

Jim Stuart agrees.

Stuart worked on Harriers for 10 years at Cherry Point and is now a Havelock commissioner.

“It’s not a fly-by-wire aircraft,“ Stuart said. “You have to fly the airplane.“

Despite the plane’s past, Stuart doesn’t believe the Harriers themselves deserve a bad rap.

“A lot of times aircraft accidents run in cycles, kind of like the economy or anything else,“ Stuart said. “And it’s really not predictable.“

Rahe also spoke highly of the Harrier.

“Based on the number of hours and sorties that we’ve flown, when you say it’s a checkered past, I don’t see it that way,“ Rahe said. “I see it as a tried and true airplane that has performed admirably.“

Both men agree the most important thing now is finding out what went wrong before Monday’s crash and making sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Every loss is a very significant event, so this is not taken lightly,“ Rahe said.

Rahe added that investigators typically like to have an initial report complete within 30 days of a crash, but the actual investigation may take much longer.

Cherry Point tells us the plane was part of Marine Attack Training Squadron 203 and was returning from a routine training mission when it went down.