Bruce Wendell Scott was born on June 22, 1961, in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan. He was the son of William Scott and Mary R. Scott. He was the husband of Barbara Scott. He served in the US Army as a Private (E-2) and as a television cameraman with the Armed Forces Network (AFN).

On September 11, 1982, he was among the 46 victims who lost their lives when the CH-47C Chinook helicopter (serial 74-22292), assigned to the 295th Assault Support Helicopter Company, crashed near Mannheim, West Germany, during the city’s 375th anniversary air show. The aircraft, overloaded with passengers, began descending after mechanical problems were reported. Investigations revealed that clogged oil passages, caused by walnut grit residue left from maintenance, led to transmission failure and loss of rotor synchronization. The resulting collision of the blades caused the helicopter to break apart and crash in flames onto the Autobahn A 656. This tragedy led to a fleet-wide grounding of Chinooks and is regarded as the deadliest helicopter accident in history.

PV2 Scott is now buried in the Blythefield Memory Gardens, Belmont, Kent County, Michigan, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com