U.S. Navy takes action to address wiring, fuel line issues

[February 07, 2015]  By Andrea Shalal
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Friday announced further actions to fix wiring and fuel line problems on its CH-53E and MH-53E heavy-lift helicopters that caused a deadly crash in January 2014, including a temporary ban on in-flight fuel transfers.

The Navy also said it would send 10 teams of experts to help Navy and Marine Corps mechanics inspect and resolve specific wiring and fuel line problems, according to a statement posted by Naval Air Systems Command, also known as Navair.

"The safety of our aircrews and aircraft remains my No. 1 priority, and I am confident that the steps described will yield the desired effects in our fleet," Vice Admiral David Dunaway, Navair Commander, said in the statement.

The helicopters were built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp, and first entered service in the 1980s.

The Navy first ordered inspections of the helicopters in February 2014 to find and fix any sign of the damaged fuel lines and wires that caused a January 2014 crash of an MH-53E Sea Dragon that killed three crew members.

But further actions were deemed necessary after random checks last month showed that many of the initial inspections had not been thorough, and 70 percent of the 28 aircraft inspected still had discrepancies and problems.

The new measures came after a Navy review board on Friday showed further actions were needed to ensure that the problems that caused the January 2014 crash were fully addressed.

Dunaway said the helicopters could fly, but ordered a halt to cross transfers of fuel, aerial refueling or refueling of the magnetic minesweeping system used by the MH-53E aircraft, until fuel lines and wiring had been inspected and fixed.

A brief halt in Marine Corps flight operations of the MH-53E that went into effect late on Thursday was also lifted.

Navair also said it would update the "corrective action directive" issued after the accident to include more explicit instructions and photographs.

The aging helicopters are slated to remain in service until the mid- to late-2020s. As of April 2014, the Navy had 152 of the CH-53E Super Stallions, and 28 MH-53E Sea Dragons, according to a Navair website.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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