Incidents

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

Black Hawk Precautionary Landing: Sydney

A Black Hawk helicopter has made a forced landing north-west of Sydney after sending out a distress call just after 7pm on Wednesday.

The helicopter, believed to be from the Richmond RAAF base, sent out a pan-pan alert just before it landed in a field at Wisemans Ferry.


RAAF Black Hawk

A pan-pan alert signals a matter of urgency on an aircraft but is , one step below mayday given there is no immediate danger to life.

Initially the alert, broadcast to all aircraft in the area, said the helicopter was coming down in a field between Richmond and Prospect.

But a spokeswoman for the Department of Defence confirmed the craft landed to the city's north.

"A Black Hawk has had a precautionary landing at Wisemans Ferry," the spokeswoman said. "A warning light came on, and as soon as that light came on, they had to land." No further detail was immediately available.

A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said they had not been told of the forced landing. "But there's no requirement for Defence aircraft to inform the ATSB of an incident," the spokesman said.

Earlier this year, one US soldier was killed and two were injured when a MH-60 Black Hawk made a "hard landing" in the US state of Georgia. In 2006, an Australian Black Hawk helicopter crashed onto HMAS Kanimbla in Fiji, killing two Australian servicemen and in 1996, two Black Hawk helicopters collided near Townsville, killing 18 soldiers.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/black-hawk...-36drr.html

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

Repairs Commence on British Army Apache at Home Farm

Repairs have begun on the Army Air Corps Apache helicopter which made a precautionary landing at Sunnyside Home Farm in Aberdeenshire on Monday.

Farmer Kevin Park has sent us this latest photo of the Apache and will keep us up-to-date with the latest goings on.


British Army Apache being repaired at Home Farm in Aberdeenshire

http://aberdeen.stv.tv/96157/

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

RAF Merlin Diverts to Carlisle

An RAF Merlin helicopter with a tail rotor gearbox sensor fault diverted to Carlisle Airport last weekend during a three-week exercise involving four other Merlin helicopters flying from West Freugh in Scotland.

Military technicians were struggled however to get access to the helicopter's tail which they initialled tried to scale with a ladder but, in the gathering winds, this became unstable and dangerous.


The Merlin receiving attention from one of the RAF technicians with the help of Solway Museum's cherry picker

Help arrived however from the Solway Aviation Museum and the “cherry-picker” which they use to access some of their exhibits. Musuem worker David Kirkpatrick answered the call for assistance at his home in nearby Crosby-on-Eden and responded immediately by assisting the Merlin crew to reach the defective part.

Unfortunately the £19m helicopter could not be fixed right away despite the best efforts of the technicians. Additional technical support from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire is set to arrive and complete the repairs this week.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/ca...-job-1.1130280

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

Danish Navy Lynx Precautionary Landing Sumburgh

Emergency services were alerted after a military helicopter suffered a suspected hydraulic issue at an island airport.

A Danish Lynx chopper departing at Sumburgh Airport on Shetland reported a problem at 1.45pm on Sunday.


Danish Navy Lynx

The issue was quickly resolved and the helicopter, which was carrying three people, continued its journey without incident.

Emergency crews were called to the airport, but had not arrived by the time the emergency was stepped down.

The Westland Lynx was first introduced in 1977 and is used by both the British Army and the Royal Navy, as well as the Danish, French and German Navys.

http://news.stv.tv/north/277613-dani...gh-airport/

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

Mi-8 Takes Small Arms Fire Through Main Rotor in Somalia

A United Nations Mi-8 helicopter operating in Somalia has received small arms fire during a recent sortie. The damage to the aircraft was only discovered as technicians were performing regular post-flight maintenance and discovered a hole in one of the main rotors. The damage was consistent with a round from a 10-15mm calibre weapon.


An Mi-8 helicopter on contract to the UN

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext...13930408000923

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

US Army Chinook Drops 4.5t Howitzer

Officials say no one was injured when a large artillery piece was accidentally dropped about 700 feet from a helicopter during training at Camp Grayling in northern Michigan.

The Army National Guard says a Chinook helicopter was moving the 155 mm howitzer on Saturday when it was accidentally released.


An M777 Howitzer from the 119th Field Artillery Regiment from Port Huron, Mich. is lifted by a Chinnok helicopter in a combat training exercise Saturday, July 19, 2014, at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Grayling, Mich. During the three-week exercise, an estimated 5,000 soldiers from five states will conduct live-fire tables and hone their combat readiness. This is the first time active component units will be integrated with reserve components during a training rotation

TV stations WOOD-TV and WPBN-WTOM report the howitzer belongs to the 119th Field Artillery Regiment out of Port Huron. The National Guard is investigating.

Thousands of soldiers from several states are at Camp Grayling for more than two weeks of training. The program for National Guard soldiers is called Exportable Combat Training Capability. It began earlier this month and runs through July 27.

Camp Grayling covers 230 square miles, primarily in Crawford County.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...yling-Training

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

AH-1W Super Cobra Damaged in Fire

A United States Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra has sustained substantial damage when the aircraft's rotor brake caught fire during a post-maintenance ground run.

The Super Cobra, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, caught fire during a post-maintenance ground run checks prior to an intended flight on 14th October. The incident occurred at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. One pilot was on board and there were no reports of injuries.


A US Marine Corps AW-1W Super Cobra from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269 sustained substantial damage on 14th October when the aircraft caught fire during a post-maintenance ground run. The fire is reported to have been associated with the aircraft's rotor-brake

The fire began in the aft transmission said Mike Barton a spokesman for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The pilot was conductinga ground run when it caught fire, he said.

The incident was first reported by the Naval Safety Center which classified the incident as a Class A mishap, signifying either military property damages in excess of $2 million had occurred.

Investigations into the incident are now underway by the Aviation Mishap Board and Judge Advocate General.

“The full extent of the damage is still under investigation,” Barton said. “The final incident classification will not be determined until the investigation is complete.”

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/arti...rps-helicopter

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

USAF Osprey Damaged after Nose Gear Failure

A United States Air Force Osprey from the Special Operations Command at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico was damaged after a nose landing gear failure while landing at Double Eagle Airport near Albuquerque.


A USAF CV-22 Osprey at Kirtland AFB

Officials at Kirtland Air Force Base say the CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor was on a training mission at the time incident which occurred 11:30 am Friday.

Kirtland officials confirmed that one of their Osprey's had sustained damage to the aircraft's nose but there were no reported injuries. A USAF investigation will pursue of cause of the failure.

AN.

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

AAC Bell 212 Emergency Landing Mt. Kenya

An Army Air Corps Bell 212 from the British Army base at Nanyuki in Kenya has made a forced landing in the Gathiuru forest on the slopes of Mt. Kenya following an undisclosed technical fault.


The British Army Air Corps Bell 212 which made an emergency landing at Mt. Kenya on 8th January

Four crew members (including one female) who were on board the helicopter at the time of the incident are reported to have sustained non-life-threatening injuries after the routine training flight they were on turned into an emergency.

The helicopter's landing site was secured by local police and British soldiers from Nanyuki and efforts are underway to recover the aircraft.

AN.