MH-60S SEAHAWK HELICOPTER CRASH ON BOARD USS LINCOLN LEAVING 5 KILLED

Courage is in my opinion one of many important traits to have in aviation. We face many challenges every single day. Having the courage to identify when a mishap or when human error has been made. On a day to day basis we trust our peers who surround us to meet the same standards to accomplish daily missions. Sailors with courage are an essential and ethical principle to have especially when all the dots line up before a flight and lives are at risk.

On August 31, 2021 on board USS Lincoln the helicopter known as loosefoot 616 safely took off to conduct training about 60 miles off the coast of San Diego. Later that day, as it was landing it began to intensely shake as its rotor blades began to fly off in various directions landing in the ocean tail first. With five out of six members in the helo losing their lives, HM3 Tucker, HM2 Burns, AWR2 Burial, LT Fridley and LT Foster. The aircraft and crew were not found until 2 months later in October 2021.This failure was due to flattening of steel braided strands within the hose, this usually occurs when it gets bent in a certain way damaging it without knowing. During the investigation it was said that there were no indications to the damper being damaged and was safe to release for flight. As the aircraft was going down the pilot took all appropriate and necessary actions in response to the failure of the damper hose.

As we learned even when maintenance is done by the book mishaps can still happen. 

Reference:

Ziezulewicz, G. (2022, May 4). Here's what caused the helicopter crash that killed five sailors in August

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/05/04/heres-what-caused-the-helicopter-crash-that-killed-five-sailors-in-august/

Capt, USN (2022, February 4). Command investigation of Aviation mishap on board USS Lincoln. https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.militarytimes.com/assets/pdfs/1651691952.pdf.