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1/132 people have died on the @USNavy and @USMC 53E helicopter.
Yet it’s never been shot down in combat.
This week’s episode explains how it became the deadliest aircraft in the military. revealnews.org/episodes/the-m…
Yet it’s never been shot down in combat.
This week’s episode explains how it became the deadliest aircraft in the military. revealnews.org/episodes/the-m…
2/ Jan. 8, 2014 was a frigid day in Norfolk, Virginia. Sailors there prepped for a routine minesweeping exercise, then took off in a 53E.
Hours later, the helicopter crashed into the ocean, killing 3 on board.
Hours later, the helicopter crashed into the ocean, killing 3 on board.
3/ Everyone knew the helicopter had problems, including the pilot, Lt. Wesley Van Dorn.
He told superiors about it years earlier.
He told superiors about it years earlier.
4/ The crash caught the attention of @Mike_Hixenbaugh, former military reporter for the @virginianpilot.
He’d already written an article about the 53’s troubles. Now, with a crash right off the coast, he took an even deeper dive. pilotonline.com/news/military/…
He’d already written an article about the 53’s troubles. Now, with a crash right off the coast, he took an even deeper dive. pilotonline.com/news/military/…
5/ That article caught the attention of Nicole Van Dorn, the pilot’s widow. She’d searched the house and found some of her husband’s records.
She was impressed with @Mike_Hixenbaugh’s reporting and started providing Wes’s materials to him. Like these notes:
She was impressed with @Mike_Hixenbaugh’s reporting and started providing Wes’s materials to him. Like these notes:
6/ At the same time, @jason_paladino, a student at @ucbsoj, started to get curious. His high school friend was one of the sailors who died in the crash.
He teamed up with @Mike_Hixenbaugh, @UCBerkeleyIRP and @zacharystauffer, and they began to expand the story.
He teamed up with @Mike_Hixenbaugh, @UCBerkeleyIRP and @zacharystauffer, and they began to expand the story.
8/ Marines shared stories of raiding museum aircraft at a base entrance for parts. Van Dorn had emails showing the Navy’s plan to get used helicopter parts from Japan.
9/ Since the 1980s, 128 service members have died in 58 “Class A mishaps,” accidents which result in loss of life or $2 million in damage, in the 53E. Another four people died in a test flight in 1996. vandornmovie.com/the-accidents/
10/ The investigation into the 2014 accident found that chafed wires and fuel tubes were to blame.
Through constant vibration in flight, a zip tie that held together a wiring bundle rubbed a hole in the fuel line and stripped away the wire insulation.
Through constant vibration in flight, a zip tie that held together a wiring bundle rubbed a hole in the fuel line and stripped away the wire insulation.
11/ The Navy knew of safety problems with the type of insulation on the wiring on the 53E, known as Kapton, even back when the helicopter was just a prototype. It was still on the aircraft that crashed in 2014. The Navy considered it the “highest ranked safety risk” in the fleet.
12/ Yet legal documents show the Navy’s history of foot-dragging on Kapton wiring replacement. Manufacturer @Sikorsky said to replace the wiring as far back as 1981, but the Navy said it would be too costly. Instead, the Navy began a slow, phased replacement in 2004.
13/ We got 1,200 lines of spreadsheet data on hazard reports on the 53E. HAZREPS, as they are known, are safety incidents that are basically narrowly-averted tragedies.
An entry from 1999 reads almost exactly like the 2014 crash, only the crew was able to put out the fire.
An entry from 1999 reads almost exactly like the 2014 crash, only the crew was able to put out the fire.
14/ Lt. Gen. Jon Davis ordered a study of the Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallions. The report found that the fleet could barely fly.
An overhaul began in mid-2016. It was supposed to take 3 years. @USNavy told us it will actually take a decade. pilotonline.com/news/military/…
An overhaul began in mid-2016. It was supposed to take 3 years. @USNavy told us it will actually take a decade. pilotonline.com/news/military/…
15/ In Jan. 2016, two 53s collided off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, killing 12 Marines. @zacharystauffer and @jason_paladino broke the story of the findings of the investigation into the crash for @civilbeat and @HuffPost. civilbeat.org/2016/10/lack-o…
16/ The “Aircrewman’s Creed,” recited by crewmembers upon completion of flight school and at other occasions, includes the line “My country has built me the finest aircraft known to man.”
17/ The Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion will fly until 2032. The new CH-53K is behind schedule and over budget. The Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon will cease flying in 2025, the Navy says. Sources anticipate it flying much longer than that. pogo.org/analysis/2018/…
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