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NTSB: Federal Agencies Missed Preventing 2008 Wildfire Helicopter Crash
JOAN LOWY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Accident investigators say two government agencies missed repeated opportunities to catch miscalculations that set the stage for a firefighting helicopter crash two years ago that killed nine people.
(AP photo/Courtesy of New Mexico State Police)
National Transportation Safety Board investigators say both the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration failed catch the deliberate understatement of the helicopter's weight by the company that leased the aircraft to the Forest Service.
They say the helicopter was more than 1,000 pounds overweight on Aug. 5, 2008 when pilots tried to take off from a rugged mountaintop clearing near Weaverville, Calif.
The helicopter was airborne less than a minute when its rotor began to slow and it crashed into trees.
Firefighters "must be able to trust the system that supports them," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said. "This accident represents a failure of that system."
The board is meeting to determine the cause of the accident and make safety recommendations.
Investigators told the board the company that leased the helicopter to the Forest Service - Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore. - provided inaccurate and altered documents that deliberately underestimated the aircraft's weight by more than 1,000 pounds.
If the helicopter is lighter, it's able to lift more weight before reaching its maximum load. Making it appear the helicopter was able to safely lift more weight than it actually could would have helped Carson win Forest Service contracts, investigators told the board.
Weights for eight other Carson helicopters were also underestimated by identical amounts, investigators said.
Carson also encouraged pilots to use a system for calculating a helicopter's weight on liftoff that eroded safety margins, investigators said.
The helicopter weighed 19,008 pounds on Aug. 5, 2008, when pilots tried to take off from a rugged mountaintop clearing near Weaverville, Calif., investigators said. But maximum weight to lift off at full power with no margin to spare was 18,445 pounds, they said. If the Forest Service safety guidelines - which include a safety margin - had been followed, the weight shouldn't have exceeded 15,840 pounds, investigators said.
The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter was airborne less than a minute when the rotor began to slow, it clipped a tree and fell into the forest. It was carrying firefighters from the front lines of a stubborn wildfire in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Seven firefighters, the pilot and a Forest Service safety inspector were killed. The co-pilot and three firefighters were injured.
The Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration failed to sufficiently oversee Carson and "detect fatal errors and discrepancies that should have been identified, and corrected, before the accident," Hersman said.
Twenty-three federal agencies, including the Forest Service, operate 1,632 nonmilitary planes and helicopters, according to the General Services Administration. Some are owned and maintained by the government, while others are leased from private companies such as Carson. Hundreds more are operated by state and local governments.
The Federal Aviation Administration says it doesn't have the authority to regulate and inspect government aircraft, especially when those planes are used for government missions like firefighting, wildlife surveys and border patrol.
Government agencies have policies that leased aircraft should come from companies that have been certified by the FAA, according the U.S. General Services Administration. But the operation aircraft dedicated strictly to government use, both owned and leased, don't receive safety oversight.
"The law that allows those entities to escape the scrutiny and requirements of the FAA is outdated and needs to be changed," said John Goglia, a former NTSB board member.
Fatal accidents involving government aircraft are commonplace. A 2001 study by the board said there were 341 accidents involving nonmilitary government aircraft between 1993 and 2000.
Among accidents in the last two years:
- A Forest Service plane conducting an aerial survey of tree defoliation in southwestern Pennsylvania in June struck a light post while trying to land near Lock Haven, Pa. The pilot and two Forest Service employees were killed.
- A California Fish and Game Department helicopter surveying deer collided with power lines near Fresno, Calif, in January. The pilot and three passengers were killed.
- Also in January, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helicopter on a repositioning flight crashed northwest of Corvallis, Ore., killing the pilot and a passenger.
- A New Mexico State Police search and rescue helicopter that had just retrieved a lost hiker crashed into a hillside near Santa Fe in June 2009. The pilot and the hiker were killed; a patrolman acting as a spotter was seriously injured.
- Two pilots and a passenger were killed in April 2009 when an air tanker leased by the Forest Service crashed near Stockton, Utah, in rain and fog.
___
Online:
National Transportation Safety Board http://www.ntsb.gov
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Accident investigators say two government agencies missed repeated opportunities to catch miscalculations that set the stage for a firefighting helicopter crash two years ago that killed nine people.
(AP photo/Courtesy of New Mexico State Police)
National Transportation Safety Board investigators say both the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration failed catch the deliberate understatement of the helicopter's weight by the company that leased the aircraft to the Forest Service.
They say the helicopter was more than 1,000 pounds overweight on Aug. 5, 2008 when pilots tried to take off from a rugged mountaintop clearing near Weaverville, Calif.
The helicopter was airborne less than a minute when its rotor began to slow and it crashed into trees.
Firefighters "must be able to trust the system that supports them," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said. "This accident represents a failure of that system."
The board is meeting to determine the cause of the accident and make safety recommendations.
Investigators told the board the company that leased the helicopter to the Forest Service - Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore. - provided inaccurate and altered documents that deliberately underestimated the aircraft's weight by more than 1,000 pounds.
If the helicopter is lighter, it's able to lift more weight before reaching its maximum load. Making it appear the helicopter was able to safely lift more weight than it actually could would have helped Carson win Forest Service contracts, investigators told the board.
Weights for eight other Carson helicopters were also underestimated by identical amounts, investigators said.
Carson also encouraged pilots to use a system for calculating a helicopter's weight on liftoff that eroded safety margins, investigators said.
The helicopter weighed 19,008 pounds on Aug. 5, 2008, when pilots tried to take off from a rugged mountaintop clearing near Weaverville, Calif., investigators said. But maximum weight to lift off at full power with no margin to spare was 18,445 pounds, they said. If the Forest Service safety guidelines - which include a safety margin - had been followed, the weight shouldn't have exceeded 15,840 pounds, investigators said.
The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter was airborne less than a minute when the rotor began to slow, it clipped a tree and fell into the forest. It was carrying firefighters from the front lines of a stubborn wildfire in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Seven firefighters, the pilot and a Forest Service safety inspector were killed. The co-pilot and three firefighters were injured.
The Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration failed to sufficiently oversee Carson and "detect fatal errors and discrepancies that should have been identified, and corrected, before the accident," Hersman said.
Twenty-three federal agencies, including the Forest Service, operate 1,632 nonmilitary planes and helicopters, according to the General Services Administration. Some are owned and maintained by the government, while others are leased from private companies such as Carson. Hundreds more are operated by state and local governments.
The Federal Aviation Administration says it doesn't have the authority to regulate and inspect government aircraft, especially when those planes are used for government missions like firefighting, wildlife surveys and border patrol.
Government agencies have policies that leased aircraft should come from companies that have been certified by the FAA, according the U.S. General Services Administration. But the operation aircraft dedicated strictly to government use, both owned and leased, don't receive safety oversight.
"The law that allows those entities to escape the scrutiny and requirements of the FAA is outdated and needs to be changed," said John Goglia, a former NTSB board member.
Fatal accidents involving government aircraft are commonplace. A 2001 study by the board said there were 341 accidents involving nonmilitary government aircraft between 1993 and 2000.
Among accidents in the last two years:
- A Forest Service plane conducting an aerial survey of tree defoliation in southwestern Pennsylvania in June struck a light post while trying to land near Lock Haven, Pa. The pilot and two Forest Service employees were killed.
- A California Fish and Game Department helicopter surveying deer collided with power lines near Fresno, Calif, in January. The pilot and three passengers were killed.
- Also in January, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helicopter on a repositioning flight crashed northwest of Corvallis, Ore., killing the pilot and a passenger.
- A New Mexico State Police search and rescue helicopter that had just retrieved a lost hiker crashed into a hillside near Santa Fe in June 2009. The pilot and the hiker were killed; a patrolman acting as a spotter was seriously injured.
- Two pilots and a passenger were killed in April 2009 when an air tanker leased by the Forest Service crashed near Stockton, Utah, in rain and fog.
___
Online:
National Transportation Safety Board http://www.ntsb.gov
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Perhaps criminal charges can be brought against Carson Helicopters managers who deliberately understated the aircrafts' weights. Sure hope those guys are out of business.
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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on
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Is greed so important that the lives of others do not matter?
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