Croman S61 down Hawaii

[Gordy]

Sad day---another crash in Kauai at the missile base, rumor on the street is 5 dead. I know that Croman Helicopters has that contract.

[havoc]

Helicopter crash in Hawaii near Kauai missile facility sees first responders rush to scene (thesun.co.uk) (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17738732/military-helicopter-crashed-kauai-hawaii/)

CHOPPER DOWN Helicopter crash in Hawaii near Kauai missile facility sees first responders rush to sceneA US military helicopter crashed near the Kauai missile facility in Hawaii as first responders rushed to secure the scene.

Military officials said the chopper went down at around 11.20am on Tuesday, near the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kekaha.
https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/ES_02-22-at-16.28.30.jpg (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17738732/military-helicopter-crashed-kauai-hawaii/#)
2A military helicopter went down near the Pacific Missile Range Facility in HawaiiCredit: Facebookhttps://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/02/ES_PMRF_HELICRASH_V2_OFFPLATFORM.jpg (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17738732/military-helicopter-crashed-kauai-hawaii/#)
2It's unclear how many people were on board the military chopperVideo footage from the scene showed a black smoke cloud rising over the crash site.

It's unknown how many people were on board and if anyone was injured.

The helicopter was flying “in support of a range training operation," when the crash occurred around 10am local time, a PMRF spokesperson told Hawaii News Now (https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/02/22/authorities-respond-aviation-incident-near-kauais-pacific-missile-range-facility/).

“At this moment, the primary focus is to allow first responders to handle this situation,” the spokesperson added.

Officials said the chopper went down on the facility's north side; however, it is unclear whether the craft crashed on land or in the water.

The Pacific Missile Range Facility is a US naval facility and the world's largest training missile range.

[Sir Korsky]

A Croman S61 crashed during long lining op, according to news link. All 4 crew have perished. Aircraft was on Navy contract.

https://nypost.com/2022/02/23/hawaii-helicopter-crash-kills-four-people-near-us-navy-facility-on-kauai/

RIP guys

[[email protected]]

From the news report it sounds very much like a TR drive failure in the high hover - no-one wants one of those. RIP fellas.

[Cyclic Hotline]

Sikorsky S61N. N615CK. Serial Number 61814.
Previously registered as;
LN-OQQ - Helikopter Service Norway.
OY-HGG - Greenlandair
C-GBFZ - Coulson Aircrane
N615CK - Croman
Very sad, condolences to the families and colleagues of those lost.

[albatross]

Just talking with a friend. One of the fatalities is a very good friend of his. Sad news indeed. RIP.

[Phil Kemp]

Terrible news for all the families and colleagues, my sincere condolences to everyone at Croman. Dan Maurice was a long-time friend and colleague, whom I first met when he joined us at Silver Bay Logging as an MD500D pilot, flying support for Crane and S61 Logging operations in the 1990s. I had many great adventures with him in the 500 days, then later firefighting with the S61 in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon as we got sent to a vast array of out of the way locations that no one ever heard of before. Dan was a great pilot, practical, safe, and with a wealth of real Alaska experience which translated into reliable and confident decision-making in any situation. Easy going and humourous, we had great fun as a crew traversing Alaska, and then making the long hauls down and back to the lower 48 when the Alaska fire season ended. My thoughts are with Dan's family, I'm so sorry for your loss.

[havoc]

Agency: Hawaii helicopter nose dived before crash killed 4 (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/agency-hawaii-helicopter-nose-dived-before-crash-killed-4/ar-AAUOPRg?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531)HONOLULU (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that a helicopter that crashed in Hawaii last month and killed all four people on board nose-dived from 200 feet (60 meters) above ground after it unexpectedly stopped while making a shallow left turn.

The agency's preliminary report on the Feb. 22 crash on Kauai said U.S. Navy contractor Croman Corp. was using the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter to retrieve inert training torpedoes from the Pacific Ocean at the time.

The crew's job involved locating a training torpedo in open waters and retrieving it using a recovery basket or cage. The helicopter then was expected to return the torpedo to the nearby Pacific Missile Range Facility using a sling load, which is cargo carried beneath a helicopter.

The agency said multiple witnesses reported the helicopter “gradually pitched nose down and impacted nose first, in a near vertical attitude.”

A fire then “incinerated much of the helicopter’s structure,” the report said.

The aircraft was returning to an ordnance recovery cage area when it crashed.

Two pilots and two crew members on board the helicopter died.

[Cyclic Hotline]

NTSB Preliminary Report

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/104681/pdf

[twinstar_ca]

That post-impact fire was a b***h... :(:sad:

[lelebebbel]

Report says a missing cotter pin on a servo was likely the cause:
https://aerossurance.com/air-accidents-incidents/missing-cotter-pin-causes-fatal-s-61n-accident/

[[email protected]]

Paying lip service to safety??The NTSB advocate wider adoption of SMS (https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Pages/smswebinar.aspx) in the US (i.e. beyond airlines) but the effectiveness of this operator’s SMS was barely probed in interview and not analysed by investigators. Of concern is the description of the SMS being a software product, the low level of reporting and the apparent lack of integration into actual management practices. Unless safety investigators look deeper into the performance and effectiveness of SMS and highlight improvement opportunities, then many organisations are likely to have a false sense of security until their own accident.

[SASless]

Imagine what old fashioned duplicate inspections might have done to prevent such failures.

Along with paperwork that required signatures of the mechanic and the person doing the duplicate inspection.

[lelebebbel]

Imagine what old fashioned duplicate inspections might have done to prevent such failures.

Along with paperwork that required signatures of the mechanic and the person doing the duplicate inspection.

This is what surprised me as well. Such an independent control check is required for all critical hardware on flight controls here in Canada, is that not the case in the US?

From the report it sounds like the mechanics involved may have been the ones killed in the accident.

[212man]

This is what surprised me as well. Such an independent control check is required for all critical hardware on flight controls here in Canada, is that not the case in the US?

From the report it sounds like the mechanics involved may have been the ones killed in the accident.
It was a requirement and the report refers to it, but it was clearly not carried out correctly.