RIP

R.I.P.

Rest in Peace.

Rest in peace.

Rest in Peace, Warrior. Thank you for your service to this greatful nation.

I found this short bio:



Mr. Donatelli has been involved in the Special Operations Community for over twenty years. After spending four years in the 1st Ranger Battalion, Mr. Donatelli decided to get out and explore the civilian world. He became a Washington D.C. police officer where he served five years working the D.C. streets during its peak of crime, violence, and drugs. Mike worked in a patrol car, plain clothes, and prostitution details. While serving the community as a police officer, he decided to re-engage and to serve his country once again. Mike re-entered the service joining the Special Forces as an 18C (Engineer Sgt). Mike has worked in almost every Central and South American country assisting, training, and advising U.S. Embassy Personnel and host nation forces in subjects ranging from setting up a Basic Training for Foreign Armies, to CQB, Marksmanship, Breaching, and providing personal protection and conducting threat vulnerability assessments. Mike has also served four tours in Iraq as an 18Z (Special Forces Team Sergeant) where he was a member of the U.S. Army's Elite, Delta Force.

As an Independent Contractor, Mike was the Program Manager and Primary Instructor for Pistol and Rifle Marksmanship to the Amtrak's East Coast New Counter-Terrorist and Police Unit. He was an Assistant Instructor for the Amtrak's West Coast team as well. Mike has attended numerous shooting and CQB courses and trained with shooting greats such as Jerry Barnhart while in the Army. He has also instructed numerous civilians in the safe handling and shooting of pistols and rifles along with Advanced Periods of Instruction. Mike has also provided personal protection to various celebrities and on-set security for numerous television shows.

Mike is also an accomplished amateur boxer. He has trained and fought with some of the top fighters in the world and has coached at various boxing and athletic clubs in Washington D.C., Miami FL, and Puerto Rico. He currently coaches in Indiana, PA.

Thank you for your service, prayers up for his family.

God Bless...Rest In Peace Warrior!

Rest in Peace Mike :( I'll let Alex know :( See you on the flip side... V/R..

I'm reluctant to revive this thread, particularly as I didn't know Mike. (Looks like I really missed something).

But in case anyone wants to follow the NTSB investigation, here are two links to the preliminary accident report, FYI:

[url]http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20130210X93918&key=1[/url]

[url]http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentReports/dfby0v45til2e255sshn1x2q1/R07082013120000.pdf[/url]

There's a little more data in the .pdf report if you know the NTSB format, but BLUF there's nothing really obvious. Could be pilot incapacitation or (most likely, in a helicopter) a mechanical failure. They should have had plenty of fuel (55 gals plus 10 in cans, minus one hour's flight 28 yields 27 if they didn't refuel for the second flight, 37 if they did, and the 206 burns about 28 gph), and the pilot should have been able to land safely if he ran out or had a simple engine failure.

It doesn't appear NTSB went to the scene, but someone from FAA did on their behalf. Between the lines, it seems clear that the accident was unsurvivable and the crew's death was instantaneous.

The NTSB will probably post a factual report before the end of the summer, unless there is something that's taking a long time to analyze.

Rip Brother....

The recent chopper crash that involved a famous basketball player, just about 40 miles from where Mike went down brought back a lot of memories. Mike was the real deal and a friend.

Never forgotten. RIP Soldier.

Never forgotten. I am sorry for your loss, kat68.