SeaBreeze
01-14-2007, 08:14 PM
Preliminary results released after early August helicopter crash indicate equipment malfunction
by Christine Bensen-Messinger, 8/16/2006
Equipment malfunction seems to be what caused a helicopter that was being used to fight the Happy Camp Complex Fire to crash Aug. 4 shortly before 8 p.m., killing the two pilots on board.
The Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, was utilizing the helicopter under contract as a public-use firefighting tool, the helicopter was registered to Heavy Lift Helicopters Inc. in Apple Valley, Calif., and the flight crew was employed by HLH, a National Transportation and Safety Board report released earlier this week stated.
The airline transport pilot captain and co-pilot, Terry Wayne Jacobs, 48, of Woodford Heights and Andrei Pantchenko, 38, of Burns, Ore., both sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was substantially damaged.
The helicopter, which had been in use at Happy Camp since July 29, was stationed at the Happy Camp helibase, where it was maintained and dispatched.
On the morning of the crash, the helicopter went through a series of maintenance and flight tests after having its number one engine replaced the night before. The helicopter was returned to service at 4:45 p.m. by the HLH mechanics and the USFS helicopter manager, the report stated.
The helicopter was then dispatched to the Titus Fire, where it conducted a number of water drops. After a little more than two hours of flight, the helicopter returned to the helibase, where it was refueled with approximately 500 gallons and examined by maintenance personnel. The helicopter departed for a second cycle of water drops. The satellite tracking system that the USFS utilizes to provide real-time data on its flights indicated that the helicopter filled its water tanks at a dip site located in the Klamath River near the Independence Bridge.
The helicopter conducted one uneventful dip and water drop during the second cycle and was in the process of conducting its second dip when the crash occurred.
A witness located near the crash site reported that he observed the helicopter come in and out of the same dip site that day filling the helicopter’s water tanks. The helicopter was located over the dip site when the witness heard a “loud bang.” He realized something was wrong with the helicopter and ran down his driveway toward the road that paralleled the river. When he reached the road he observed the helicopter flying over a stone riverbed toward the Independence Bridge. He then saw a large piece fall off the helicopter, which was later identified as the tail rotor gearbox with three of the four tail rotor blades attached to the hub. The helicopter impacted the opposite side of the river/shoreline. The witness called the USFS over a radio to report the accident.
As of Wednesday, the Happy Camp Complex Fire, which started July 23, has burned 3,818 acres and is 50 percent contained.
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=13972
by Christine Bensen-Messinger, 8/16/2006
Equipment malfunction seems to be what caused a helicopter that was being used to fight the Happy Camp Complex Fire to crash Aug. 4 shortly before 8 p.m., killing the two pilots on board.
The Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, was utilizing the helicopter under contract as a public-use firefighting tool, the helicopter was registered to Heavy Lift Helicopters Inc. in Apple Valley, Calif., and the flight crew was employed by HLH, a National Transportation and Safety Board report released earlier this week stated.
The airline transport pilot captain and co-pilot, Terry Wayne Jacobs, 48, of Woodford Heights and Andrei Pantchenko, 38, of Burns, Ore., both sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was substantially damaged.
The helicopter, which had been in use at Happy Camp since July 29, was stationed at the Happy Camp helibase, where it was maintained and dispatched.
On the morning of the crash, the helicopter went through a series of maintenance and flight tests after having its number one engine replaced the night before. The helicopter was returned to service at 4:45 p.m. by the HLH mechanics and the USFS helicopter manager, the report stated.
The helicopter was then dispatched to the Titus Fire, where it conducted a number of water drops. After a little more than two hours of flight, the helicopter returned to the helibase, where it was refueled with approximately 500 gallons and examined by maintenance personnel. The helicopter departed for a second cycle of water drops. The satellite tracking system that the USFS utilizes to provide real-time data on its flights indicated that the helicopter filled its water tanks at a dip site located in the Klamath River near the Independence Bridge.
The helicopter conducted one uneventful dip and water drop during the second cycle and was in the process of conducting its second dip when the crash occurred.
A witness located near the crash site reported that he observed the helicopter come in and out of the same dip site that day filling the helicopter’s water tanks. The helicopter was located over the dip site when the witness heard a “loud bang.” He realized something was wrong with the helicopter and ran down his driveway toward the road that paralleled the river. When he reached the road he observed the helicopter flying over a stone riverbed toward the Independence Bridge. He then saw a large piece fall off the helicopter, which was later identified as the tail rotor gearbox with three of the four tail rotor blades attached to the hub. The helicopter impacted the opposite side of the river/shoreline. The witness called the USFS over a radio to report the accident.
As of Wednesday, the Happy Camp Complex Fire, which started July 23, has burned 3,818 acres and is 50 percent contained.
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=13972