A brand new H-34 was delivered to Fort Eustis, Virginia with only 16 hours on the clock. The first flight was to be commanded by a brand new Captain who recently transitioned from fixed wing to rotary. An instructor pilot accompanied him. For whatever reason he was twisting the throttle to help prime the engine. The helicopter was protected from starting by what is known as a throttle canceller. This unit was made up of several levers and push-pull rods as well as a micro switch. If the micro switch was open the starter could not be engaged. On this helicopter the throttle canceller was misrigged at the factory and when the pilot was twisting the throttle and pressing the starter switch the engine caught and with the throttle wide open everything went to hell in an instant.
The helicopter was equipped with a hydromechanical clutch that provided a fluid coupling to bring the rotor up to speed. The forces on the internal mechanism of the clutch failed and the rotor went into direct drive from the engine. So many of the dynamic elements were structurally damaged as well as the transmission support, the tail rotor drive as well as the intermediate and tail rotor gear boxes. The rotor blades were severely twisted and the fuselage suffered damage. The engine was shot and the landing gear was deformed.
With only 16 hours on the clock the helicopter was a write-off and it was turned over to the tech school as a training aid.
