Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
(I'll be interested to learn the cause, if that particular incident's final report becomes publicly accessible).
The lower right corner of the video's beginning looks to me like they are on a pier, adjacent to water.
Cause? Overloading the towbar made worse by using unsuitable tugs. The shockloading on the towbar with all the snatch-loads from the tugs' wheels slipping must have been massive. Use of a suitable sized tug or a winch would have resulted in a much smoother tow and vastly less stress on the towbar, even so, one has to wonder if towbars are rated for the sort of gradients found on ships' loading ramps. Do those towbars have fuse-pins? As the helo swings round at the end of he ramp there's something quite substantial flailing around and still attached to the nosegear.
Is that a proper CH53 towbar? It looks pretty flimsy for such a heavy aircraft. What does the signage GPMB(?) MA5400 on the towbar mean? You'd expect them to be labeled with a max load figure, surely that's not a towbar for a 5400Kg - let alone 5400Lb max weight aircraft?
Here's the same tug apparenty, and a towbar that seems very similar.
https://www.alamy.it/stati-uniti-mar...ip%3d0%26pl%3d
And here is a ship that looks very similar too. Both pics at USMC Hawaii
https://www.alamy.it/stati-uniti-mar...ip%3d0%26pl%3d