Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion - Accidents and Notable Incidents

Accidents and Notable Incidents

Between 1969-1990, more than 200 servicemen had been killed in accidents involving the CH-53A, CH-53D and CH-53E. The MH-53E Sea Dragon is the U.S. Navy's helicopter most prone to accidents, with 27 deaths from 1984 to 2008. During that timeframe its rate of Class A mishaps, meaning serious damage or loss of life, was 5.96 per 100,000 flight hours, more than twice the Navy helicopter average of 2.26. A 2005 lawsuit alleges that since 1993 there were at least 16 in-flight fires or thermal incidents involving the No. 2 engine on Super Stallion helicopters. The suit claims that proper changes were not made, nor were crews instructed on emergency techniques.

• On 1 June 1984, on CH-53E based at Tustin was lifting a truck from the deck of a ship for transport to San Clemente Island during an exercise when a sling attached to the truck broke, sending a shock wave into the aircraft causing it to disintegrate. Four crewmen were killed.
• On 19 November 1984, a CH-53E on a routine training mission at Camp Lejeune, NC, was lifting a seven-ton howitzer before it crashed. Six people were killed, and 11 injured. It lost tail rotor failure, lost control and impacted the ground; the cabin area were quickly consumed by the ensuing fire. Sikorsky later made modifications and inspection procedures for the entire CH-53E fleet to prevent any further mishaps of this type.
• On 13 July 1985 a CH-53E from a Tustin squadron was on a flight in Okinawa when it struck a logging cable and exploded. Four people were killed.
• On 25 August 1985 a CH-53E from New River, NC, was flying a routine supply and passenger run from Tustin to Twentynine Palms during a training operation when it caught fire and crashed in Laguna Hills. One of the three crew members was killed and the aircraft was a total loss.
• On 9 May 1986, four Marines were killed and a fifth was injured in a CH-53E crash Friday near Twentynine Palm. The accident, which occurred during training exercises, was the fifth crash in the previous two years of a Super Stallion.
• On 8 January 1987, a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during night training, killing all five crew members. The helicopter went down on the Salton Sea Test Range about 8:30 p.m. while practicing night landings for troop deployment.
• On 9 May 1996, a CH-53E crashed at Sikorsky's Stratford plant, killing four employees on board. That led to the Navy grounding all CH-53Es and MH-53Es.

• On 10 August 2000, a Sea Dragon crashed in the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi and resulted in the deaths of its crew of four. The helicopters were later returned to service with improved swash plate duplex bearings and new warning systems for the bearings.
• On 20 January 2002 a CH-53E crash in Afghanistan killed two crew members and injured five others. Defense Department officials said the early-morning crash was the result of mechanical problems with the helicopter.
• On 2 April 2002, a Navy MH-53E (BuNo 163051) of HM-14 crashed on the runway at Bahrain International Airport. All 18 people on board survived with only a few cases of minor injuries.
• On 27 June 2002, a Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 (HC-4) "Black Stallions" crashed in a hard landing at NAS Sigonella, Sicily. No one was injured, but the aircraft was written off.
• On 16 July 2003, a Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 (HC-4) "Black Stallions" crashed near the town of Palagonia, about 10 miles west-southwest of Naval Air Station Sigonella, killing the four member crew. The flight was on a routine training mission. One of the fatalities was the HC-4 executive officer.
• On 25 January 2005, a Navy MH-53E of HM-14 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, 30 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, VA. The helicopter was on a routine AMCM training mission when it suffered a catastrophic main transmission failure. All eight crew members onboard survived but the aircraft was destroyed.
• On 26 January 2005 a CH-53E carrying 30 Marines and one Navy Corpsman crashed in Rutbah, Iraq, killing all 31 on board. A sandstorm was determined as the cause of the accident. This crash was the main fatal event in the day of the Iraq war with the highest number of US fatalities.
• On 16 February 2005, an MH-53E from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 (HC-4), based at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, crashed on the base at approximately 4:20 p.m, injuring the four crew members.
• On 17 February 2006, two CH-53Es carrying a combined U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force crew collided during a training mission over the Gulf of Aden, resulting in ten deaths and two injuries.
• On 16 January 2008, a Navy MH-53E on a routine training mission crashed approximately four miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas. Three crew members died in the crash and one crew member was taken to local hospital for treatment and survived.
• On 29 June 2012, a Navy MH-53E from HM-14 made an emergency landing five miles northeast of Pohang, South Korea due to an in-flight fire. Though the pilots and aircrew were uninjured, the aircraft was heavily damaged by the fire.
• On 19 July 2012 a Navy MH-53E crashed 58 miles south of Muscat, Oman during a heavy lift operation, resulting in two deaths.