UH-1N Edwards-Oct-1991
 
UH-1F Eglin AFB 1966   UH-1F DMAFB, AZ 1967   UH-1F Malmstrom AFB 1967   UH-1F Eglin AFB 1969   UH-1F Edwards AFB 1971   UH-1F Ellisworth AFB 1971   UH-1N FT. Bragg 1973   HH-1H Hill AFB 1974   UH-1F F.E. Warren 1975   UH-1F Ellsworth AFB 1982   UH-1F Whiteman AFB 1982   UH-1N Bahamas 1984   UH-1 Ellsworth AFB 1986   UH-1N Edwards-Jan-1991   UH-1N Edwards-Oct-1991   UH-1N Kirtland AFB 1996   UH-1N 1998   UH-1N F.E. Warren AFB 1999   UH-1N Kirtland AFB 2002   TH-lH Ft. Rucker 2009   UH-1N Malmstrom AFB 2010   UH-1N Kirtland AFB 2011   UH-1N Minot AFB 2013   CH-3C Malmstrom AFB 1965   CH-3C Sheppard AFB Mar. 1967   CH-3 Sheppard AFB Nov. 1967   CH-3E Midair in Laos 1970   HH-3E Korea 1973   HH-3E Elmendorf AFB 1974   HH-3E Iceland 1979   CH-3E Patrick AFB, 1984   HH-3E Osan 1984   HH-3E 29-Palms 1988   HH-3E Kadena 1989   CH-3E DMAFB 1989   H-5G Ladd AFB 1951   H-5H Maxwell AFB 1953   H-5 New York 1958   H-13G Niagara Falls 1955   H-13 Bryan AFB, TX 1957   H-19A San Marcos 1952   H-19A O'Neill, NB. 1953   H-19B Alexandria, LA. 1954   H-19B Austria 1954   H-19B France 1954   H-19B Korea 1954   H-19B March AFB 1954   H-19B Rhine Main AB 1955   H-19B Eglin AFB 1955   H-19 Skaneateles Lake, NY 1956   H-19 Ashiya Japan 1957   H-19 Edwards AFB 1957   H-19 Niagra Falls 1959   H-19 Sheppard   H-19B Loring AFB 1960   H-19 Beal AFB 1963   H-19 Larson AFB 1963   H-19 Saigon, RVN 1964   YH-21 Thule AB 1953   H-21 Goose Bay 1954   H-21A San Marcos TX 1955   H-21B Tennesse 1955   H-21 San Diego, CA 1956   H-21 Alaska 1957   H-21 Goose Bay 1958.   SH-21 Greenland 1958   H-21 Elmendorf AFB 1958   H-21 Dugway Proving Grnd. 1958   H-21 Goose Bay 1959   H-21 Greenland 1959   CH-21B Otis AFB 1959   H-21 Indian Springs AAF 1961   H-21 Luke AFB 1961   H-23B Moody AFB 1953   H-43A James Connally AFB 1959   H-43B Loring AFB 1961   H-43B Westover AFB 1961   HH-43B MacDill AFB, FL 1964   HH-43B Stead AFB 1965   HH-43B Clark AB, PI 1966   H-43 Sheppard AFC, TX 1966   HH-43B Phan Rang 1968   HH-43B MacDill AFB 1969   HH-43B Hill AFB 1973   HH-53C Eglin AFB 1969   CH-53C Germany 1975   CH-53C Germany 1976   HH-53C Woodbridge 1977   HH-53C Kadena AB 1979   HH-53B Kirtland AFB 1981   HH-53C Kirtland AFB 1982   MH-53 Philippines 1984   CH-53C Pope AFB 1984   HH-53C Hickam AFB, HI 1985   HH-53C Hill AFB 1986   HH-53H Nellis AFB 1986   MH-53J Korea 1995   HH-53B Vance AFB 1996   HH-53B Cherry Point 1998   MH-53J Ft. Bragg 1999   MH-53M RAF Mildenhall 2000   MH-53 Durango CO 2002   MH-53M USNS Kanawha 2002   MH-53M Afghanistan 2003   MH-53M FOL Hurlburt Fld 2003   MH-53M Kuwait 2003   MH-53M Hurlburt Fld. 2007   UH-60A Pope AFB 1987   HH-60G New York 1991   MH-60G Antigua 1991   HH-60G Great Salt Lake 1992   HH-60G Davis-Monthan AFB 1994   HH-60G Korea 1994   HH-60G Indian Springs 1998   HH-60G Al Jabar AB 1999   HH-60G Avon Park 2001   HH-60G Mt. Hood 2002   HH-60G Afghanistan 2002   HH-60G Afghanistan 2003   HH-60G Afghanistan 2004   HH-60G Angel Fire, NM 2005   HH-60G Kandahar 2007   HH-60G Afghanistan 2009   HH-60G Okinawa 2013   HH-60G Lakenheath 2014   HH-60G Lakenheath 2014 1   HH-60G Lakenheath 2014 2   Ellsworth AFB 1955   Hawaii crash 1963   Patuxent River NAS 1960   Randolph AFB 1957   Spokane River, WA 1959   Tyndall AFB 1961   Wright-Patterson 1956   Spokane River 1972  


UH-1N

Edwards AFB, CA.

10 October 1991


UH-1N #69-6634 of the 6512th Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, CA. disintegrated and caught fire at about 8,000 and crashed while on a routine parachute training mission. Killed in the crash were Capt. Jay David Burdett (P), SSgt. John R. Anderson (Aerial photographer), SSgt. Kurt H. Ellington (Survival Instructor) and two other crew members were thrown free of the helicopter an parachuted to safety.



3 Killed, 2 Injured in Crash of Helicopter at Edwards Air Force Base


October 11, 1991|JOHN CHANDLER and SEBASTIAN ROTELLA | TIMES STAFF WRITERS


An Air Force helicopter crashed Thursday during a parachute training mission at Edwards Air Force Base, killing three of the five people aboard and injuring the two others, officials said.

 

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. It was the second incident of its kind involving an Air Force UH-1N Huey helicopter this year at the sprawling desert base about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

 

A Huey search and rescue helicopter crashed on a night training mission Jan. 14, killing two crew members and injuring two others.

 

Edwards officials did not release the identities of the crew members on the helicopter involved in Thursday's crash, pending notification of relatives. The helicopter was one of only three of its kind used by the Air Force at Edwards.

 

The two survivors parachuted from the aircraft. Rescuers found them walking in the desert about half a mile from the grove of Joshua trees where the helicopter crashed and caught fire about 9 a.m. The pair, described as experienced jumpers receiving advanced training, were treated at the base hospital for minor injuries.

 

The twin-engine helicopter, built by Bell Helicopter-Textron Inc., was on a routine parachute jump exercise conducted by the base's survival training school, which instructs Air Force pilots and crew members in emergency procedures.

 

It was not known whether the two survivors jumped as part of the training exercise or because of a problem with the helicopter. The helicopter was in radio contact with personnel on the ground before the crash, but Air Force officials did not disclose whether the crew reported any problems.

 

When rescue units arrived, the burning remains of the aircraft had ignited surrounding desert brush. The blaze was quickly extinguished by firefighters, base Fire Chief Willie Bell said.

Debris was "scattered over an area of one to 1 1/2 miles," Bell said.

 

The bodies of the three people who died were in the wrecked fuselage, he said.

 

"We have no idea" why the helicopter went down, said Air Force Col. Steven Henrich, head of the investigation team at the crash scene, where a 12-foot-long piece of olive-green fuselage lay on the ground.

 

Base officials sealed off the area and brought in search crews and spotlights to comb the desert for stray pieces of wreckage. That process was expected to continue into the evening.

 

The Air Force began using the Huey in 1971 and still uses it for transport, medical, evacuation and other purposes. It typically accommodates a pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, rescue specialist and up to 13 passengers, the Air Force said.

 


BURDETT, JAY DAVID, AUG 21, 1961- OCT 10, 1991, EDWARDS AFB, CA., HUS OF JANINE L. KELLEY, SON OF K. DALE BURDETT & JANICE GOLART, CAPT USAF

Helicopter Crash Still a Mystery: Tragedy: Air Force report fails to provide clear cause for 1991 accident in which three were killed. A separate document on the incident remains confidential. ABB

 

January 09, 1993|JOHN CHANDLER | TIMES STAFF WRITER

 

A newly released Air Force report on the October, 1991, helicopter crash that killed three servicemen at Edwards Air Force Base gives no clear cause for the accident.

 

The document, called an accident investigation report, contains the only findings on the crash that the Air Force intends to release. There is a separate safety mishap investigation report, which typically states a cause, but its findings are confidential.

 

Air Force officials said this week they have nothing more to say on the subject.

 

"The document is designed to be stand-alone. It says everything we can say on that particular incident," said Capt. John Boyle, a spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

 

Air Force officials would not say whether they had found a cause for the crash. But the report, nearly 550 pages long, does detail the final flight of the 20-year-old twin-engine UH-1N helicopter. The craft, on a routine parachute training mission, began bucking and swerving, then turned virtually upside-down, lost its rotor blades, caught fire, and fell 8,000 feet to the desert. Two crew members survived the crash.

 

The UH-1N model involved, built by Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Texas, has had various reported problems in recent years. A spokesman Friday confirmed that the company has been inspecting and modifying those craft used by the Air Force, but refused to detail the problems or the modification.

 

Another UH-1N crashed at Edwards on Jan. 14, 1991, killing two crew members and injuring two. A Marine Corps UH-1N crashed July 27, 1990, in Imperial County, killing two crew members and injuring three. Four Marines died Oct. 16, 1991, in a UH-1N crash near the Salton Sea.

 

The Air Force had blamed the January, 1991, crash at Edwards on failure of the helicopter's main drive shaft coupling, likely because of overheating caused by misalignment. But they had ruled out that cause for the October, 1991, Edwards crash. No cause was available on the Marine crashes.

 

Air Force officials said they always keep confidential the safety report, the one that typically contains a cause, because its findings are used to help prevent future crashes. Servicemen testifying in that process are promised that nothing they say can be used against them or become public.

 

The document released on the October, 1991, crash found no drug impairment by crew members, no sign of maintenance or mechanical problems likely to have contributed to the crash, and no external conditions--such as bad weather--that might have caused the mishap.

 

Killed in the crash were the pilot, Capt. Jay D. Burdett, 30, of Albion, N.Y.; an aerial photographer, Staff Sgt. John R. Anderson, 26, of Columbia, Pa., and survival instructor Staff Sgt. Kurt H. Ellington, 30, of Charlotte, N.C. Two crew members were thrown free of the craft and parachuted to safety. One was injured.

 

According to the report, as the troubled craft began veering to the right and flying nearly upside-down, the main rotor blades sliced off its tail, then came loose. In the process, the rotor blades also hit the cabin four or five times, and apparently punctured a fuel tank.



            




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