torpex
05-03-10, 03:35 AM
Has this been posted already?? I haven't seen it anywhere else except at the courier mail website.
Metal cover strikes Sea Hawk blades
EXCLUSIVE by Ian McPhedran From: The Daily Telegraph March 02, 2010 11:00PM
A NAVY helicopter narrowly avoided disaster when an engine cover flew off and slammed into its two rotors.
The Sea Hawk was operating from the frigate HMAS Warramunga during exercises off the NSW coast on February 22 when the incident occurred.
As the machine climbed away from the ship, an engine cover flew off and was sucked into the main rotor before being flung back and into the spinning tail rotor.
The pilot managed to land the damaged machine minus the engine cowling which fell into the sea.
The navy yesterday played down the incident and described it as a "precautionary safe landing".
It denied a cover-up despite making no public comment at the time. The Sea Hawk fleet was grounded for two days while an investigation was held.
"There was no cover-up, it was a procedural investigation of human error," a navy spokesman said.
An inspection revealed that the clips that secured the cowling had not been locked during a pre-flight inspection by the crew.
The navy introduced additional procedural checks following the incident.
In 2007 the navy only released details of a Sea King helicopter near miss that involved missing split pins after inquiries from The Daily Telegraph.
An internal inquiry found that incorrectly-fitted split pins caused the crash of a Sea King in April 2005 that claimed nine lives on Nias Island in Indonesia.
It also uncovered a culture of flawed management, deficient maintenance and a lack of safety culture.
The 1700-page report recorded a "series of errors, oversights, inadequate supervision, non-compliance with maintenance regulations and poor communications" and an "embedded culture of short-cuts" had contributed to the tragedy.
Why is everything in defence a cover up if the general public isn't given all the details straight away? Considering there'd have to be some form of accident/incident investigation into this incident which wouldn't have happened overnight, I'm a bit surprised the cover up drum is being beaten already!
Metal cover strikes Sea Hawk blades
EXCLUSIVE by Ian McPhedran From: The Daily Telegraph March 02, 2010 11:00PM
A NAVY helicopter narrowly avoided disaster when an engine cover flew off and slammed into its two rotors.
The Sea Hawk was operating from the frigate HMAS Warramunga during exercises off the NSW coast on February 22 when the incident occurred.
As the machine climbed away from the ship, an engine cover flew off and was sucked into the main rotor before being flung back and into the spinning tail rotor.
The pilot managed to land the damaged machine minus the engine cowling which fell into the sea.
The navy yesterday played down the incident and described it as a "precautionary safe landing".
It denied a cover-up despite making no public comment at the time. The Sea Hawk fleet was grounded for two days while an investigation was held.
"There was no cover-up, it was a procedural investigation of human error," a navy spokesman said.
An inspection revealed that the clips that secured the cowling had not been locked during a pre-flight inspection by the crew.
The navy introduced additional procedural checks following the incident.
In 2007 the navy only released details of a Sea King helicopter near miss that involved missing split pins after inquiries from The Daily Telegraph.
An internal inquiry found that incorrectly-fitted split pins caused the crash of a Sea King in April 2005 that claimed nine lives on Nias Island in Indonesia.
It also uncovered a culture of flawed management, deficient maintenance and a lack of safety culture.
The 1700-page report recorded a "series of errors, oversights, inadequate supervision, non-compliance with maintenance regulations and poor communications" and an "embedded culture of short-cuts" had contributed to the tragedy.
Why is everything in defence a cover up if the general public isn't given all the details straight away? Considering there'd have to be some form of accident/incident investigation into this incident which wouldn't have happened overnight, I'm a bit surprised the cover up drum is being beaten already!