Aircraft crash was first for upgraded 'C' model
| • | Equipment issue cited before copter crash |
| • | Whether catching waves or salmon, crewmembers lived lives to the fullest |
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The crash Thursday night of a Hawai'i-based Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter was the first servicewide for the latest "C" model, which has engines that were upgraded following a series of in-flight power losses, officials said.
Before that, the most recent crash and loss of life for a Barbers Point aircrew was in 1982.
Separate investigation teams are being convened by the commandant of the Coast Guard and Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, commander of the 14th Coast Guard District in Honolulu. Both are expected to be in place next week.
Brown said a preliminary report suggests something went wrong with a cable that's used to lower and raise a rescue basket in the HH-65C Dolphin. The four-man crew was conducting a routine rescue exercise with a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Honolulu.
"I will tell you from my experience as a 30-year veteran from the Coast Guard — we are our harshest critic," Brown said during a news conference yesterday. "We're going to take all the evidence collected from this case, and we're going to develop as hard-hitting of a report as we can so that we can learn the lessons that we can from this incident so we don't repeat it."
Four of the Dolphins are based at Air Station Barbers Point.
The most recent crash of a Hawai'i-based Coast Guard helicopter before Thursday was in 1982, when an HH-52A Seaguard from Barbers Point crashed on Moloka'i.
Lt. Colleen A. Cain, the Coast Guard's first female helicopter pilot, died in that accident along with two crew members.
The aviation history Web site check-six.com also lists the following fatal Coast Guard Dolphin crashes:
Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Kathy Hayes went to boot camp with rescue swimmer David Skimin, who died in Thursday's crash. She also served with him in Kodiak, Alaska, where she was a Dolphin flight mechanic.
Now a Coast Guard recruiter in lower Manhattan, Hayes said she isn't afraid to get back into a Coast Guard helicopter.
"We train and train and train," she said. "Flying is safe."
Coast Guard Lt. John Titchen, a spokesman in Honolulu, said the Dolphins are "very reliable." The Coast Guard's bigger HH-60 Jayhawk is much more stable and has more power, but the Dolphin "is a little bit more maneuverable and a lot better for coastal search and rescue."
According to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector general report, the Coast Guard in 1984 purchased 96 of the twin-engine, short-range recovery HH-65 helicopters with LTS-101-750 engines.
The 2004 report said safety and reliability problems had plagued the HH-65 fleet, and the decision was made to "re-engine" the aircraft with Turbomeca Arriel 2C2 engines.
Between Oct. 1, 2003, and Aug. 31, 2004, the HH-65 had a power "mishap rate" of 314 per 100,000 hours versus 18 per 100,000 hours for the bigger HH-60.
All Honolulu Dolphin helicopters have since been converted to the new engine. A Barbers Point HH-65C last October notched the Dolphin's 1 millionth flight hour fleetwide.
Staff writer Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
