CH-53E Swashplate bearing failure
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CH-53E Swashplate bearing failure
Aerospace Company Pleads Guilty in Helicopter Crash Case
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- An aerospace subcontractor pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 1996 helicopter crash that killed four members of a test-flight crew at Sikorsky Aircraft.
Kaydon Corp., with offices in Muskegon and Ann Arbor, Mich., admitted Tuesday in U.S. District court that it falsified quality-control tests on parts it made for Sikorsky helicopters.
In a deal that protects its employees from prosecution, the company pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements but denied responsibility for the crash. Under terms of the agreement, Kaydon will pay $7.5 million in criminal fines and civil damages arising from a criminal investigation into the March 7, 1996, crash at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford.
Four people were killed during the maiden flight of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, which was being prepared for delivery to the Marine unit that transports the presidential limousine.
Sikorsky and the Navy concluded that a Kaydon ball-bearing assembly supporting the main rotor seized, causing the rotor blades to snap as the craft hovered 200 feet in the air.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Kaydon admits its employees faked tests on the same type of part blamed in the crash, but not on the actual assembly used in that helicopter.
Attorney Mark J. Hulkower said Tuesday that the crash "had nothing to do with what happened here today."
Calls for comment from Kaydon were referred to the company's chief executive officer, Brian P. Campbell, who was unavailable.
The plea deal follows the settlement of a lawsuit the government filed under the False Claims Act. The company paid settlements last year to Sikorsky and the families of the four dead crew members, the terms of which were confidential.
Kaydon's 2000 annual report notes the company spent or reserved $21.7 million for "the Sikorsky matter" and an unrelated lawsuit.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- An aerospace subcontractor pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 1996 helicopter crash that killed four members of a test-flight crew at Sikorsky Aircraft.
Kaydon Corp., with offices in Muskegon and Ann Arbor, Mich., admitted Tuesday in U.S. District court that it falsified quality-control tests on parts it made for Sikorsky helicopters.
In a deal that protects its employees from prosecution, the company pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements but denied responsibility for the crash. Under terms of the agreement, Kaydon will pay $7.5 million in criminal fines and civil damages arising from a criminal investigation into the March 7, 1996, crash at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford.
Four people were killed during the maiden flight of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, which was being prepared for delivery to the Marine unit that transports the presidential limousine.
Sikorsky and the Navy concluded that a Kaydon ball-bearing assembly supporting the main rotor seized, causing the rotor blades to snap as the craft hovered 200 feet in the air.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Kaydon admits its employees faked tests on the same type of part blamed in the crash, but not on the actual assembly used in that helicopter.
Attorney Mark J. Hulkower said Tuesday that the crash "had nothing to do with what happened here today."
Calls for comment from Kaydon were referred to the company's chief executive officer, Brian P. Campbell, who was unavailable.
The plea deal follows the settlement of a lawsuit the government filed under the False Claims Act. The company paid settlements last year to Sikorsky and the families of the four dead crew members, the terms of which were confidential.
Kaydon's 2000 annual report notes the company spent or reserved $21.7 million for "the Sikorsky matter" and an unrelated lawsuit.
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"Under terms of the plea agreement, Kaydon admits its employees faked tests on the same type of part blamed in the crash, but not on the actual assembly used in that helicopter."
I'm confused; in other words the parts in the crash a/c had passed the quality control tests? Maybe the quality control tests themselves were inadequate too.
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Another day in paradise
I'm confused; in other words the parts in the crash a/c had passed the quality control tests? Maybe the quality control tests themselves were inadequate too.
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Another day in paradise
