H-53 Reliability
SAS/Sultan, I called the SA pilot who was in the Mayaguez operation and he confirmed the loss of that ship with the police. Cause was traced to an improper re-assembly of one of the sleeve/spindle assemblies by the NARF at Pensacola.
As to the RH-53D that turned back on the way to Desert One, I believe that was related to the loss of attitude reference. Those ships had been modified ( don't know by whom ) with strap down inertial systems and I think the situation was that some of the USMC troops on board put their gear on top ( they were on the floor up front ) and they over heated.
And I was reminded that during the flight over, the flight crews were on a C-141 that when it landed on Diego Garcia had to sit in the machine for an extended period because the USAF crew went out of crew duty time, so they had to wait for the fresh 141 crew. They didn't get much sleep, if any, on the boat either.
Thanks,
John Dixson