Crash of the Sikorsky S-61N OY-HAI
| Crash of the Sikorsky S-61N OY-HAI | |
|---|---|
 The Sikorsky S-61N OY-HAI in Nuuk, 1971 |
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| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | crash |
| place | at Utoqqarmiut in Nuuk Township |
| date | October 25, 1973 |
| Fatalities | 15th |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Sikorsky S-61 N |
| operator | Grønlandsfly |
| Mark | OY-HAI |
| Surname | Aĸigssiaĸ |
| Departure airport | Nuuk |
| Destination airport | Paamiut |
| Passengers | 12 |
| crew | 3 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
 
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Overview map of flight route and crash site |
When the Sikorsky S-61 N with the aircraft registration OY-HAI crashed into the sea off West Greenland on October 25, 1973 , all 15 occupants were killed. The helicopter crash is, besides the Greenlandair flight accident near Nuuk in 1962 , one of the two most serious accidents in Greenland's civil aviation, it was followed by one of the most costly salvages in aviation history. Never before had an air or sea craft been recovered from such a great depth.
Flight history
The helicopter was built in 1969 for Grønlandsfly with construction number 61469 and was in service for four years. He was nicknamed Aĸigssiaĸ (in the new spelling Aqissiaq ). After ditching, the helicopter was repaired in May 1972.
The flight offered by Grønlandsfly was supposed to take off from Nuuk at 8:30 am and land in Paamiut after a flight time of 75 minutes . Because of a snow storm, the helicopter could not take off on time and had to postpone the departure by several hours. On board were twelve passengers between 18 and 53 years from the cities of Nuuk, Paamiut, Nanortalik and Narsaq, as well as three crew members. Among the passengers were the two state councilors Johan Knudsen and Jørgen Poulsen . The State Councilor and later Prime Minister Jonathan Motzfeldt had also booked a flight ticket, but canceled it that morning in order to attend a committee meeting at which he was supposed to be represented by Lars-Emil Johansen .
Finally, the helicopter was able to take off from Nuuk at 12:15 p.m. in clear weather. A control report should be sent every 20 minutes. The first planned report at 12:35 p.m. did not materialize. According to the police report, the first report was made at 12:25 p.m. and the one at 12:45 p.m. was missing. The helicopter crashed at about 12:28 p.m. Attempts were made to reach the helicopter by radio until 1:45 p.m.
Shortly before the crash, a fisherman had seen the helicopter fly overhead about six kilometers north of the site of the accident.
search
When the crew did not react to radio messages, an alarm was triggered because of the lack of control reports. To search for the machine, a rescue helicopter was sent from Paamiut at 1:55 p.m. to fly the route. At 2:15 p.m. a helicopter took off from Nuuk in the other direction. It was initially assumed that the crash site was between Kangerluarsoruseq in the north and Qeqertarsuatsiaat in the south. Finally, the first wreckage was spotted almost six kilometers north-northeast of Utoqqarmiut . At 3:30 p.m., the Nakua Pol police cutter was ordered from Nuuk, and a rubber boat, four still strapped bodies, some smaller wreckage and an oil slick were found. The passengers found had succumbed to their injuries, but even if they had survived the crash, they would probably have frozen to death after a short time in the water, which was around 0 ° C. There were still the inspection vessel stomach and fishing boats Adolf Jensen and KGH - Trawler Carl Egede ordered to the site to the area next scan. On October 28, a fisherman found a rotor blade further northwest. The wreck remained lost for the time being and the search was stopped on November 15th.
Two helicopters of the same type had already crashed in the USA without the cause being able to be determined. So it was important to find and recover the helicopter wreck. The great depth of the water in the area made searching by conventional methods difficult. In order to find the helicopter wreck anyway, a company from Florida was hired, which was familiar with underwater searches and rescues. On November 24th, two navigators and two geophysicists arrived in Greenland. A central search area and, in the event that the helicopter could not be found there, an extended search area was defined. On November 25th they went to the crash area. Six days were planned for the search. Transmitters were set up on two islands and the Nakuaĸ was used as a search ship that searched the seabed with a transmitter on a cable. After two days it was possible to locate the wreck. It was at a water depth of 204 m. To find the place again, a buoy was put in place. The position was measured again the next day in case drift ice tore away the buoy. The next day the buoy had actually disappeared and a new buoy had to be put in place, which - as it turned out later - was accidentally anchored directly in the wreck.
Recovery attempts
First rescue attempt
The water depth of over 200 meters was a major problem. Never before had a wreck been recovered from such a great depth. Therefore a Douglas DC-6 was sent to Florida by Grønlandsfly to fetch a mini submarine . The plane landed at Sondrestrom Air Base , today 's Kangerlussuaq Airport . There, the dismantled submarine, hanging from a helicopter, was to be brought to the inspection ship Fylla , which was anchored in the port at Camp Lloyd, 12 km away. However, strong gusts of wind made this impossible. The ship could not be loaded until December 7, and it finally arrived in Nuuk two days later at 5 a.m. There the submarine was assembled in a hangar by Grønlandsfly. It turned out that the boat could not cover the distance to the scene of the accident on its own, as this would have taken too long and would have been too risky. In addition, the boat was too heavy to be taken on board by the Fylla's crane . As a solution, the 75-year-old sand suction ship Gustav was organized, which had a sufficiently powerful crane.
On December 10 at 7 a.m., a group of ships consisting of the Fylla , the Nakuaĸ , the Mågen and the Gustav left Nuuk with a total of 103 men with the submarine on board. Three days were planned for the rescue. On the way, the submarine was put into the water on a trial basis and it was found that it was leaking. On a second attempt no problems were found and the journey could be continued with a delay of several hours. The scene of the accident was reached at 2:30 p.m., but at 4:20 p.m. a strong storm broke out and all ships had to go to the Qarajat Iluat fjord , which is about 16 km to the north. The storm only subsided overnight, and on December 11 at around 4 a.m., the submarine was launched to take photos and video recordings. After two and a half hours, the submarine surfaced again and was then sent back to the sea floor before it had to surface again after two hours because another storm made it necessary to stop the operation again. Just before midnight, the submarine was able to undertake another dive.
The next day it was launched again at 3 a.m. Around noon the submarine undertook another dive to attach the rescue cables to the wreck, which was then to be lifted from the Fylla . The submarine crew succeeded in attaching the main cable to the rotor block, but in the process one of the side cables got caught in the screw of the submarine, which left three men on board unable to maneuver on the seabed. The submarine grabbed the main cable with its gripper arm in order to be pulled up by the Fylla . The ship started, but the submarine overturned. The ship was withdrawn and the cable got into its own screw. Thereupon the Nakuaĸ had to intervene and moored alongside the maneuverable Fylla so that it would not drift away . Then the Mågen was used to grab the cable between the screw of the Fylla and the screw of the submarine and pull the submarine upwards. It was possible to pull the submarine up to ten meters below the surface of the water. Thereupon two divers were sent into the water to detach the cables from the submarine. However, one of the divers swam motionless on the surface of the water and the Fylla had to launch her dinghy to save him. His lung valve was frozen and he could not breathe. A little later, however, it was ready for action again and the diving process was continued. The other diver's foot got caught in the ropes and he also had to be rescued. It took five hours until the submarine was back on the surface and the Gustav took it on board.
The rescue operation was canceled and all ships drove back to Nuuk, where they arrived at 10 p.m. The next day, the US recovery team initially refused to continue the recovery, but were persuaded. Nevertheless, the next attempt was postponed until the new year, because of the upcoming Christmas holidays and to have the submarine repaired in Nuuk.
Second rescue attempt
On January 17th, the Fylla was replaced by the identical ship Ingolf . Improved equipment was purchased and another three days were planned for the rescue, but depending on the weather conditions. Shortly before the rescue began, the rescue leader broke his leg and had to be hospitalized. Although a replacement was available, he let himself be released from the hospital at his own risk. After the successful recovery, however, he had to be brought in again and flown to the USA.
As expected, the buoy was gone and the position was re-measured and marked by the Nakuaĸ . On the morning of January 19, the group of ships arrived at the crash site and at 11:20 a.m. the submarine was launched. It turned out that the helicopter wreck had overturned - probably during the recovery of the submarine - and was now lying with the rotor block facing down on the sea floor, which made recovery even more difficult. New pictures of the wreck had to be made in order to be able to plan the recovery again. After three hours the submarine came back to the surface and in the late afternoon all ships had to go to the fjord due to a storm.
On January 20, the submarine dived again at the buoy, but the wreck was gone. It turned out that the storm had driven the buoy away and it had to be looked for again. After the site of the accident was found again, two anchors were attached to the wreck. Then another storm came up and you had to go into the fjord again. On January 21, the submarine submerged again, took new photos and attached the rescue ropes, but after a dive, the weather again forced a recovery break. The Ingolf used the now longer break to drive to Nuuk and fill up her fresh water tanks.
On January 23, the submarine was launched again in the morning, but an empty battery prevented further action on that day. The actual recovery should finally begin on January 24th. First of all, the tail rotor that was on the side should be recovered. The submarine fastened the cable in the morning and by 4 p.m. the tail rotor was on board the Ingolf . In the evening the submarine was supposed to take more pictures, but could no longer locate the wreck. The next day, the cables were attached to the main wreck, which took the whole day. It was not until the early morning of January 26 that the main cable was attached, as the wreck could not be found before that, and then the cable. In the evening everything was ready for the rescue, but suddenly there was another strong storm and all ships had to go into the fjord again. The next day the ships were still in the fjord, which was gradually icing over. The Nakuaĸ had to break the ice.
The recovery
The rescue could be continued on January 28th. The rope got caught in the screw of the Ingolf and had to be loosened by divers. At 12:30 p.m. the rescue should be completed and the rope was pulled up. After an hour it was completely drawn in, but without the wreck originally attached to it. The submarine was sent down again but could no longer find the wreck.
It was found the next day and the submarine reattached the rope in seven hours. At 4:30 p.m. it was loaded onto the Ingolf again . Now the Gustav was supposed to pull up the wreck. At 5:00 p.m. the rope was pulled up again and this time the wreck was attached to it. A heavy snow storm broke out. The divers could not go down and fasten more ropes. The wreck was pulled up without any further fortifications. Ingolf , Gustav and Nakuaĸ were tied together and the helicopter wreck was lifted out of the water by the Gustav . The storm continued to increase and the badly damaged wreck was only held together by the fastening cables. It was not possible to lift the wreck on board. At night the wreck began to fall apart and it was decided that the wreck should be released back into the water closer to the shore.
In the meantime, the water on the Ingolf became scarce and was used excessively because of the permanently running engines in order to be able to hold the ship against the current in its position. There was no more drinking water on board and therefore no dish water for dishes or to wash. When the last of the cooling water was used up, the ship had to sail to Nuuk again on the afternoon of January 30th. Meanwhile the buoy had been torn away at its new location and divers could not find the wreck.
On January 31, all ships were back at the wreck site. The submarine was also taken, although the crew had considered their task to be done. Despite two submarine dives and another search with divers, the wreck could not be found. The submarine crew was released and drove with the Gustav and the Naluaĸ to Nuuk, from where they traveled home to Florida.
The next day, February 1, 1974, divers located the wreck and roped it again. An iron bar was made to lift the wreck vertically out of the water. The rescue could only be continued on February 4th. The iron bar was used to pull up the wreck, but when it was lifted out of the water the bar flexed under the weight of the helicopter wreck. The wreck was brought further ashore and then pulled up. In the afternoon the wreck was on the Gustav and the ships drove back to Nuuk. There the wreck was examined and the skeleton of a uniformed crew member was found in the wreck.
Aftermath
The crew of the Gustav were given a four-day vacation, and when they were about to start vacuuming the sand , the ship was gone. The old ship was completely overwhelmed by the salvage, had a leak and was now lying on the seabed in the port of Nuuk.
The wreckage of the helicopter was flown to Denmark, where it was to be examined at the Værløse military airfield . The cause of the helicopter crash could not be clarified. Maybe it was a rotor failure.
Web links
- OY-HAI at nordicrotors.com
- OY-HAI at oy-reg.dk
- OY-HAI at helis.com
- MAAGEN søger helicopter in Søværnsorientering on December 7, 1973
- The nedstyrtede helicopter in Søværnsorientering on December 21, 1973
- Helikopter-bjærgningen i Grønland in Søværnsorientering from January 18, 1974
- Helikopter-bjærgningen indledt in Søværnsorientering from February 1, 1974
- Helikopteren bjærget in Søværnsorientering on February 8, 1974
- Helikopter-bjærgningen in Søværnsorientering from February 15, 1974
- Helikopterbjærgningen whopping record in Søværnsorientering on March 8, 1974
- Lokaliseringen af helikoptervraget in Søværnsorientering from March 15, 1974
- En tak til Søværnet in Søværnsorientering of April 19, 1974
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Entry at aviation-safety.net
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Police report on the crash of March 1, 1974. (Document is provided by email from the Arktisk Institute.)
- ↑ 15 dræbt ved helikopterstyrt in the Atuagagdliutit of November 8, 1973
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t OY-HAI forsvundet . In: Nordisk Kriminalreportage 1979 . Lindhardt and Ringhof, ISBN 978-87-11-75089-6 .