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John Crewdson's career came to an abrupt end through the catastrophic failure of the main rotor head on the Alouette II he was flying.
A summary of the
accident report reads:
"The report concludes that the accident was caused by the disengagement of the main rotor head retention bolt, with consequent detachment of the rotor, due to corrosion of the engaging threads between it and the mast.
Contributory factors were the application of a different aeronautical grease from the one specified for use during assembly of the rotor head, the presence of a sulphate contaminant from an unknown source, the omission of a main rotor head inspection which had become due 207 hours prior to the accident, low aircraft utilisation which resulted in long periods of time between successive inspections and an extension of the overhaul period of the main rotor mast assembly."
Elro said: Look at how horrifyingly corroded the threads are in the highlighted report!
Images herewith:
The bolt recovered from G-AWAP
Vertical section through mast showing corrosion product in thread (x1.4)
View showing loss of thread form in mast and evidence of vertical smearing at 'A' (x12)
As with G-FILM this was a most tragic event and I clearly recall how saddened my godfather was when he learnt of John's demise.
Sav