A grounded Seahawk had a terrible accident on July 30th when an external fuel tank fell from its pylon and injured one sailor and killing another. The
sailor that passed away whilst at the hospital. The Navy has only just released the information and our still investigating.
The incident happened during an exercise called 'Hotseat.' Hotseating, for those who don't know, is to launch and execute missions before the
helicopter is shut down.
The helicopter is to believed, to have belonged to the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85 based in San Diego and it happened at NAS North Island
California
It's a really sad accident and I feel for his family and friends. The cause might be what I photographed on other investigations involving dropped
tanks and pylons. Failure of maintenance to install and torque bolts correctly resulting in catastrophic failure. There are other causes but this
one is a common one and has resulted in fatalities and injuries before. My best,