[Fair use for education and research purpose only]

Last updated: Monday 17 April 2000 NATIONAL NEWS

Title: Sea King Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing on Island After Crew Reports Fumes

LAWRENCETOWN, N.S. (CP) - A military Sea King helicopter slowly sank into a bog Monday after making an emergency landing on a small island off Nova Scotia. The five-person crew smelled fumes in the cabin while they were about 50 kilometres off the coast of the Atlantic during a military training mission.

And as they were heading back to their Shearwater, N.S., base, the chopper began leaking oil on the outside of the airframe, forcing an immediate landing, said Capt. Erin O'Toole.

"There was oil on the side of the aircraft and they then started to ascertain that it was more important to land immediately as opposed to waiting to get back to Shearwater."

The pilot, Capt. Henry Davies, set the Sea King down on tiny Shut-in Island, about a kilometre from shore, he said. Another Sea King delivered a maintenance crew to the island, where preliminary reports suggested the main gearbox malfunctioned.

"It's sinking right now - it's in a bog," said Capt. Susan Gray. "The whole wheel of the left side is in."

Crews were to try to put wooden planking under the aircraft to stop the sinking before attempting to recover the airframe Tuesday, she added.

Canada's geriatric fleet of 30 Sea Kings, dating from the 1960s, has become a maintenance nightmare, requiring at least 30 hours in the shop for every hour in the air. The chopper's main gearbox has given repeated problems for years.

The military ordered high-tech Sea King replacements in 1992 but the contract was cancelled in 1993 by the newly elected Liberal government.

Defence Minister Art Eggleton has since promised replacements but industry has not yet been asked for bids.

Last fall, a Sea King sent overseas on a NATO mission spent almost half its time in the shop.

And in March last year, a Sea King over St. Margarets Bay, N.S., quit a training flight after the main gearbox overheated.

An overheated gearbox can result in transmission failure, with no power getting to the helicopter's main rotor, forcing an emergency landing.

http://www.vancouversun.com/cgi-bin/newsite.pl?adcode=n-mm&modulename=national%20news&template=national&nkey=vs&filetype=fullstory&file=/cpfs/national/000417/n041753.html

====================

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), April 17, 2000