Posted on: Thursday, January 27, 2005

CH-53E copter a demanding craft

Advertiser Staff

The CH-53E Super Stallion is a Marine Corps workhorse that requires a lot of care to stay in the sky. The helicopter, the largest in the U.S. military inventory, is used to haul heavy cargo or dozens of troops.

But the military plans to replace the Super Stallion with a helicopter that is easier to maintain, said John Milliman, a spokesman for the Naval Air Systems Command. For every hour the Super Stallion flies, it requires 44 man-hours of maintenance, he said.

Built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the three-engine helicopters cost $39 million apiece when the last one was delivered in 2003. The Super Stallion is operated by a crew of three and can carry as many as 55 people.

As of yesterday, the Marines had 151 CH-53Es, Milliman said. The oldest was built in 1980.

The CH-53Es were temporarily grounded in 1996 and again in 2000 after crashes.

Military officials said the CH-53's safety record is on par with other Marine Corps aircraft. Over the past five years, Marine aircraft, both planes and helicopters suffered an average of 3.21 major accidents for every 100,000 hours in the sky. Since 1981, CH-53s have suffered 35 such accidents — defined as causing $1 million or more in damage — a rate of 3.22 major accidents per 100,000 flying hours.