[Helobubbas] FW: Re: NAS Imperial Beach Helicopter Mishap-1968-edited

Tue Feb 7 13:31:32 PST 2023

Thanks John for the rest of the story……mgb

From: JOHN FEARS <2jafears at comcast.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023 1:11 PM
To: retiredaffairs at navalhelicopterassn.org
Subject: Fwd: Re: [Helobubbas] NAS Imperial Beach Helicopter Mishap-1968-edited

Mike, 
Got the email with newspaper dates and Tommy Mathews name which I was reluctant to use first. The initial mention of a 1968  H 3 crash was before I came over to the dark side, and I had this accident in my P - brain as 1969. At any rate, it was a Sunday afternoon routine post maintenance check flight thus the one pilot aboard. 
Accident attributed to combining gearbox access door opening / departing in flight on final  approach impacting at least one rotor blade causing  uncontrollable separation and fatal crash.  
Change to door locking mechanism was accomplished  quite quickly. It was an H2C, HC -1 bird. 

Take Care, 
         JAF 

On 02/07/2023 3:26 PM retiredaffairs at navalhelicopterassn.org <mailto:retiredaffairs at navalhelicopterassn.org>  wrote: 

Bob and Pete thanks so much. After I posted this I used Ancestry to search and I believe I found the mishap article in a number of newspapers incolving a HC-5 UH-2C which crashed at the east end of IB killing all three crewmembers….one pilot and two crewman. Jim O’Brien has mentioned he did not believe they single piloted the H-2 back then without someone sitting the left seat, so we are guessing the left seat was manned by one of the two mishap crewman….
I have attached two cropped images from the newspapers I found online…..As it turns out Congressman Bilbray witnessed this mishap and told me about it during our phonecall yesterday. He was in high school at the time and returning from surfing  at the very west end of IB on that frontage road heading home when he saw it come down and crash….He mentioned it had something to do with an autorotation, but he was not too clear on details.
I should add that Jim O’Brien mentione during our discussion this ‘bird could also have belonged to HC-1 at this time. I guessed on HC-5…have not found anything to indicate which command. Jim knows some folks who were there at the time and will followup. He checked in to HC-5 in 1969 himself after the mishap….
I found some other mishaps during 1968 but they were over thee water in the IB, North Island PT Loma and Seal Beach areas, but only this one on Imperial Beach during 1968………mgb

From: Helobubbas <helobubbas-bounces at helobubbas.com <mailto:helobubbas-bounces at helobubbas.com> > On Behalf Of Robert Schottle
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023 11:01 AM
To: Helobubbas <helobubbas at helobubbas.com <mailto:helobubbas at helobubbas.com> >
Subject: Re: [Helobubbas] NAS Imperial Beach Helicopter Mishap-1968

Mike: I don’t know if this is the mishap in question. The H-3 had a utility reservoir which amongst other functions serviced the automatic rotor brake. I recall an instance where that reservoir became pressurized in flight and the automatic rotor brake was wrongfully pressurized in flight and the rotor brake was applied with catastrophic results. Following that mishap, in later years that reservoir was vented to preclude that from happening. I know that vent arrangement was a preflight item on the aircraft. 
Bob Schottle
Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 7, 2023, at 10:30 AM, retiredaffairs at navalhelicopterassn.org <mailto:retiredaffairs at navalhelicopterassn.org>  wrote:

Anyone on the list around Imperial Beach during 1968 on the list remember a fatal helicopter mishap which took the lives of all of the crew. I believe it took off and got over the beach heading to the dip areas and immediately turnaround and returned to the airfield completing autorotation ending up a Class A and loosing the crew. I am not sure what model helicopter it was. Our former Congressman from Imperial Beach has reached out to NHAHS to help them identify the crew involved for a city memorial they are planning……We are assisting the former congressman and mayor, Brian Bilbray of Imperial Beach with this…mgb

Mike Brattland  CDR USN (Ret.)
NHA Retired Affairs Director/Membership/Signal Charlie Coordinator
NHA Trustee
NHA/NHAHS/NHASF Webmaster  CGAA LTM P-5463
Naval Helicopter Association (NHA) LTM #70  R-12230

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