Canadian Chinook Crash 15 (16?) May 11 - all crew/pax survived

[Good2Golf]

I'm completely certain the story was on cbc before any troops had made it back from the crash site.

If that was the case, then the proper course of action to address the issue would be to pass it up through your chain of command, not to allude to the fact on a public forum...

 

[The Bread Guy]

I'm completely certain the story was on cbc before any troops had made it back from the crash site.

If you read the stories closely, you'll see the reporter on the helicopter was from the Canadian Press, not the CBC.  I doubt the CBC had it before CP if a CP reporter was in the accident.

.... there isn't some goof in the CBC with his fingers on the keyboard, waiting on the home row, as his direct link from Afghanistan calls him on the Red Phone tm, ready to illustrate once again that we are in a losing mission? ....

Technically, if the reporter had a sat phone, and phoned into the newsroom right then, there is a capability to get the story on the air/on the wire tout suite.  That said, I have to agree with this:

The reporters there know the deal.  If they don't play by the rules, they will get escorted to the main gate and told to have a nice day.

And in this case, the CP reporter is FAR from being a rookie just out of J-school - further agreeing with TV....

Trololololol.

 

[The Gues-|-]

If that was the case, then the proper course of action to address the issue would be to pass it up through your chain of command, not to allude to the fact on a public forum...

Allude to the fact that a reporter reported a story before he should have? on a public forum?  As oppose to releasing the story on national broadcasting system  lol  Well thank you for that direction of ethics Good2Golf should I put my heals together?! Did you go learn those course of ethics in post secondary? Except there would likely be little need of doing this since everyone that mattered would of been watching already.  It's a public forum.

Trololololol.


If that is the case, then how did the embedded reporter (at the crash site) get back to file the story?  And make it to the wire?  And be published?  I mean, there isn't some goof in the CBC with his fingers on the keyboard, waiting on the home row, as his direct link from Afghanistan calls him on the Red Phone tm, ready to illustrate once again that we are in a losing mission?

 
This isn't the 80's any more.


Regardless I didn't come on her to mutter pointless shit and waste my time as you can see from my number of posts beside my name... so I'll let the armchair's sit back and critic to gain milpoints. 

 

[Strike]

Regardless I didn't come on her to mutter pointless shit and waste my time as you can see from my number of posts beside my name... so I'll let the armchair's sit back and critic to gain milpoints.

To give you an idea of what happens when a story is filled from Afg, directly to the network, without confirmation that permission has been granted...

Because the networks understand how important it is to keep up relations with deployed CF elements, they try not to bite the hand that feeds them and will contact the MLO to get confirmation.  If they don't do this and release a story without confirmation that OpSec won't be breached, the CF tends to get a bit annoyed and will not only send the offending reporter home, but will not be as willing to accept a reporter from that network on future embedding opportunities.  The network is then stuck gathering info from their "pool."  Not the most of ideal situations for them.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Good2Golf should I put my heals together?! Did you go learn those course of ethics in post secondary?

:facepalm:

 

[Good2Golf]

Allude to the fact that a reporter reported a story before he should have? on a public forum?  As oppose to releasing the story on national broadcasting system  lol  Well thank you for that direction of ethics Good2Golf should I put my heals together?! Did you go learn those course of ethics in post secondary? Except there would likely be little need of doing this since everyone that mattered would of been watching already.  It's a public forum. 

In your haste, Gues-|-, you missed the salient point, which was that if a reporter had conducted themselves in a manner that was counter to the embed policy and that you had witnessed it, then you should address the issue through your chain of command. 

If you choose to post on a public forum afterwards that you believe a story was made public before the crew and passengers made it back from the crash site, with whatever implications you intended, then that's your own choice.  It was the previous point to which my comments referred.

On a side note, you might consider lowering your confrontational tone a bit, as no one here was critiquing you personally.  You seem to have taken offence where none was intended.
 

Regards
G2G

 

[The Bread Guy]

Regardless I didn't come on her to mutter pointless crap and waste my time as you can see from my number of posts beside my name... so I'll let the armchair's sit back and critic to gain milpoints.

Yeah, that's precisely why we post here....  :

 

[Jarnhamar]

You can always tell when someone has thin skin. They start with the personal jabs, correcting spelling, "armchair generalling" etc..

 

[vonGarvin]

The guys?  Are they recovering well?  I sure hope so.  And I hope that the pilot is getting proper counselling.  Not as in "You messed up, boy!" but as in making sure that his state of mind is taken care of.  I could not imagine the potential for a feeling of "guilt", even if there was no fault on his or her part.

 

[Occam]

At the risk of fanning the flames, I think Gues-|- is correct.  I would be very curious to know what time clearance was given to let the story fly.

 

[57Chevy]

                                              shared with provisions of The Copyright Act

Canadian Forces, US Marines lift damaged Chinook to safety
Cpl Rashaun James

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan –Canadian and U.S. forces safely recovered a downed Canadian Forces CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel mission in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, May 17.

Utilizing a trio CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, with assistance from 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s helicopter support team, the Canadian and American team was able to transport the damaged aircraft back to its home at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

“We showed up with two aircraft to do the lift in case one had a maintenance issue during the mission,” said Maj. Jade Steward-Campbell a CH-53E pilot and HMH-461’s maintenance officer. “A third CH-53 served as our tactical support aircraft, which launched out with the HST to rig the CH-47 for pick-up, and to transport all the debris from the crash and Canadian Forces personnel back to Kandahar.”

To ensure the mission was carried out safely, a pair of Canadian Forces attack helicopters provided close-air support during the mission, while Canadian Leopard 2 tanks provided ground security.

“There were also Canadians who worked in conjunction with the HST,” explained Staff Sgt. Peter Montalvo, a CH-53E crew chief and weapons and tactics instructor with HMH-461. “They had the manuals for the Chinook and were the subject matter experts. We took our cue from them and working together we were able to bring the aircraft back to Kandahar”

Prior to launching the mission, the HMH-461 planners had a number of factors to consider.

“Our maintenance section had to strip over two tons of unnecessary parts off the CH-53s in order to enable them to execute this lift,” Steward-Campbell, a Carson City, Nev., native said. “Almost everything, with the exception of the engines and rotor blades, had to be removed from the aircraft with only eight hours notice.”

Decreasing the weight of the aircraft was not the only factor taken into consideration before the mission.

“The zone was extremely challenging for us, mostly due to the dust,” Steward-Campbell said. “We had reduced the weight of the aircraft, so it had sufficient power, but the dust made it difficult to find reference over the ground, but it’s the mission we train for and we accomplished it.”

This mission marks the second time the Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., based squadron has been called upon to perform a tactical aircraft recovery during their current deployment to Afghanistan.

“We are the premier TRAP and heavy-lift asset in-theater,” said Montalvo, a Eureka, Calif., native. ”I think this mission went very well. We had multiple agencies and multiple countries working together. We went in with an international effort and got the job done.”

Courtesy Photo:
A Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 CH-53E Super Stallion transports a Canadian Forces CH-47 Chinook during a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel mission in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, May 17. Utilizing a trio CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, with assistance from 2nd Marine Logistics Group's helicopter support team, the Canadian and American team was able to transport the injured aircraft back to its home at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. US Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Thomas W. Dowd.

 

[MrsAlex]

My fiance was on that crash. Thank God, he came out of it with only scratches, bruises and a sore back. From what I've heard, most injuries were REALLY minor, except for one guy who had a broken leg. They were extremely lucky in their bad luck. I have chills thinking about it. So much things could have gone wrong... even more wrong that is!

 

[vonGarvin]

My fiance was on that crash. Thank God, he came out of it with only scratches, bruises and a sore back. From what I've heard, most injuries were REALLY minor, except for one guy who had a broken leg. They were extremely lucky in their bad luck. I have chills thinking about it. So much things could have gone wrong... even more wrong that is!

Glad to hear that he's ok! 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest, from the Epilogue of the Flight Safety Investigation Report ....

.... The night mission called for two CH147D Chinook helicopters to simultaneously insert troops to an unprepared Helicopter Landing Site (HLS) while two CH146 Griffon helicopters provided force protection.  After arriving on scene, the Chinooks manoeuvred around the high ground to the south and established themselves on final approach, with the accident Chinook following the lead aircraft.

As it landed, the lead Chinook generated a large dustball, which the accident Chinook crew assessed would not jeopardize their approach and landing.  Descending through approximately 30 feet above ground, both pilots lost visual ground references despite their use of night vision goggles.  The landing flare continued until touchdown, at which point the pilots felt an unusual aircraft motion to the right.  Realizing that the aircraft would roll over, the Aircraft Captain tried to take control and salvage the landing as the rest of the occupants braced for the crash.  Once the helicopter came to a rest on its right side, both engines were shut down, and the five crew and 26 passengers egressed.  One passenger sustained serious injuries while eight sustained minor injuries; the helicopter was destroyed.

The investigation concluded that the use of inadequate landing procedures in a degraded visual environment (DVE) resulted in the helicopter landing with right drift, causing it to dynamically roll over once the forward right-hand landing gear dug into the ground thereby providing a pivot point.

Since the accident, the CH147D has been replaced by the CH147F, a much more advanced helicopter.  Many safety recommendations identified by the investigation have already been addressed; most significantly a CH147F Occupant Safety Assessment made recommendations to further improve the level of occupant safety and CH147F visual approach procedures were changed.  The recommendations to validate certain elements of night vision goggle equipment and operations remain outstanding ....

.... and from The Canadian Press:

A helicopter crash that seriously injured a soldier and forced a halt to one of Canada's last combat missions in Afghanistan was the result of pilot error and fuzzy procedures, a long-awaited report concludes.

The crash on landing in May 2011 in a remote part of Panjwaii district destroyed the $45-million Chinook and left eight others with minor injuries, according to the report released Friday.

The incident occurred as the pilot attempted to land the packed helicopter by moonlight on a dry river bed and, according to the report, "inadvertently" caused the aircraft to drift to the right as it landed in an intense dustball.

"The investigation concluded that the use of inadequate landing procedures in a degraded visual environment resulted in the helicopter landing with right drift, causing it to dynamically roll over," the report states.

The chopper carrying 26 passengers and five crew -- one of two ferrying troops to the mission -- hit the ground hard, made a horrifying sound as it rolled onto its side, and pitched soldiers and equipment around the darkened interior.

Some soldiers and a Canadian Press reporter aboard were initially trapped as the smell of fuel filled the cabin, but a crew member was able to douse flames in one engine ....