Posted on 09/12/2002 3:19:06 PM PDT by vannrox
The Marine Corps at that time did not fly RH-53s. The Corps received its first RH-53Ds in 1990 when the Navy started to transition to MH-53Es. The Marine choppers, CH-53Ds, that were used to train for the mission were all left in the States. The RH-53s belonged to the Navy, were stored on the hangar deck of the Nimitz and received very little maintenance. Adequate time required for check flights and tweaking of the helicopters by their mechanics and crew chiefs wasn't factored in. Two or three days prior to the mission a fire alarm was pulled on the hangar deck of the Nimitz and most if not all of the helicopters were covered with PKP - purple k powder - a highly corrosive fire extinguishing chemical. Rudimentary inspections, another mistake, followed, pronouncing the helicopters as ready for the mission. The reason that the helicopter that struck the C-130 had to lift off was that it had a flat nosewheel and couldn't ground taxi in the sand. The whole thing was one big cluster f***
Two, that final helo that crashed, did so because he was relocating to the opposite side of the staging area to be refueled for the flight back to the Nimitz, not because of any nosewheel damage. A C-130 had some damage, but they were still able to fly out, is that what you were thinking of?
http://rescueattempt.tripod.com/hostagerescueattempt
And this, in turn, was caused by an extremely low morale after the Vietnam War, exacerbated by the Commander-in-Chief that did not stand firmly behind the troops. Had Carter chosen the best people for the job and given them a free hand, this would not have happened.
Not true. Crew selection began before Thanksgiving, 1979, and were training since then. Also, there was one Navy pilot, and the rest Marine. I have heard one pilot was Air Force, this article falsely claims, or infers, it was a mixed crew, that is entirely false, these men trained for months together before taking off for Desert One. The final selection of pilots was not complete until Christmas 79 or so, and members of all branches were tested and weeded out of the selection.
As for unfamiliarity with the aircraft, the BIMS indicator indicates that nitrogen has leaked from the spar of the rotor blade. In layman's terms, that means the spar cracked/blade broken/helicopter fall down go boom.
What is interesting to note, however, is that in all recorded incidents of a BIMS indicator going off, is that all inspections of the blades for each recorded instance, shows there were never any cracks. The pilot who left his aircraft after this warning went off was unaware of Sikorsky's findings, and had every reason to not take the chance.
Carter had nothing to do with the mission failure. He did get out of the way, and General Vaught had free rein to train and select people and aircraft for the mission. All military considerations were paramount in planning and operation of this mission. Carter supported the troops and Generals all the way in this.
And before everyone else jumps on my head like on the other thread that forced me to type so much on this, I wa one of the Marines off the coast of Iran for this, and I know what I am talking about.
That's a definitive statement you can't make. PKP has the ability to work it's way into nooks and crannies undetected. In fact the pilot's spotlight onboard helo #1 was found to be inoperative on the deck of the Nimitz prior to launch and had to be replaced. Not long after the flight crossed the coast problems were being experienced with both the PINS and Omega systems onboard all helos. The TACAN in #5 had failed shortly after leaving the Nimitz and it also was having yaw problems from the AFCS. The BIM failure on #6 was never troubleshot because that bird was abandoned. What caused #2 to lose it's second stage hydraulics? What caused the AH and the electric compass on #5 to fail?
Two, that final helo that crashed, did so because he was relocating to the opposite side of the staging area to be refueled for the flight back to the Nimitz, not because of any nosewheel damage. A C-130 had some damage, but they were still able to fly out, is that what you were thinking of?
No. Helo #3, piloted by Jim Schaefer, had both nosewheel tires damaged and deflated upon landing at Desert One. Because of this Schaefer had to air taxi a short distance, set down and let the dust settle and then repeat, a technique he called "wounded frog." The same thing happened to Seiffert when he landed Helo #1. Schaefer was maneuvering his bird to the northeast so one of the C-130s, #4 piloted by Hal Lewis, could taxi and takeoff. He was low on fuel and had to leave before Oldfield, in Helo #6, could finish getting refueled. Schaefer had already been refueled. It is believed that due to density altitude and weight limits on performance that Schaefer wasn't able to develop enough power to lift off and fly over the C-130. Had he been able to make a rolling takeoff, which he couldn't due to the nosewheel problems, he probably would have cleared the C-130.
The embassy guards were fully capable of repelling the attack but were stopped for fear of causing an international incident.
IMHO if they would have waxed the first 10 or so fence climbers the whole incident would have ratcheted down real fast.
\ But seriously, how can a flame retardant seep into an avionics cabinet and destroy the afcs and TACAN on one, and the bims on another?
The country should also note that carter kissed the Khomeini’s butt for 444 days without results. But the 52 hostages were released the same day as Ronald Reagan’s inauguration - the Iranians were smart enough to know that a real shit-storm was on the way if they didn’t.
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