The Suspicious Death Of A Military Whistleblower: The Pilot Who Tried to Save His Crew

Lt. Wesley Van Dorn was a Navy pilot who lost his life in the MH‑53E Sea Dragon, a helicopter known for its heavy‑lift power and its long record of catastrophic failures.

Long before the crash that killed him, he had been raising alarms about the aircraft’s design flaws, neglected maintenance, and the systemic problems that kept putting crews at risk.

His story is not just about a dangerous machine. It’s about a pilot who pushed for safer conditions, a family forced to confront an avoidable loss, and a military system that repeatedly dismissed warnings until it was too late.

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