2008 Carson Helicopters Iron 44 Crash
On August 5, 2008, a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter, N612AZ, operated by Carson Helicopters, impacted trees and terrain during its initial climb after taking off from Helispot 44 near Weaverville, California, while transporting firefighters under contract to the U.S. Forest Service. The pilot in command, a USFS inspector pilot, and seven firefighters were fatally injured, and the copilot and three other firefighters were severely injured but survived. Investigation The NTSB's preliminary report determined that the cause was a loss of power on take off probably caused by an engine failure. However, in January 2010, the NTSB issued its final report finding that the crash’s probable cause was Carson’s intentional understatement of the helicopter’s empty weight; alteration of the power-available chart to exaggerate the helicopter’s lift capability; the practice of using unapproved, above-minimum-specification torque in performance calculations that, collectively, resulted i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sikorsky S-61N
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. They were developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the late 1950s. Two versions, the land-based ''S-61L'' and the amphibious ''S-61N'', were created. The S-61L had an enlarged cabin and dispensed with some amphibious features, such as its float stabilizers, for greater payload capacity. It was considered attractive to utility operators, while the amphibious S-61N appealed to offshore operators. The first models were delivered to customers in September 1961. By the turn of the century, they had become two of the most widely used airliners and oil rig support helicopters built.Frawley 2003, p. 194. Airliners were a key customer for the S-61L. Los Angeles Airways, New York Airways, and Chicago Helicopter Airways were among the first operators. However, operations in this sector proved troubl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carson Helicopters
Carson Helicopters, Inc is a helicopter-operating company based in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, United States. Carson operates a fleet of Sikorsky S-61 helicopters in Aerial crane, aerial lift services and aerial firefighting. Carson developed the "Carson Blade" for the S-61 and SH-3 Sea King, H-3 Sea King. In 2010, Carson Helicopters, Inc. partnered with Sikorsky Aircraft to develop and manufacture the S-61T, an upgraded version of the S-61 helicopter. In 2015 former VP Steve Metheny was sentenced to prison for falsifying documents related to a 2008 crash that killed seven firefighters and two pilots. A federal jury had earlier found that the primary cause of the crash was the failure of the GE-designed engine, specifically issues with the engine's fuel control, of which GE had previously been notified. Founder and president Franklin Carson died on October 25, 2024. Upgrade programs British Royal Navy upgrade program In 2007, Carson Helicopters partnered with the British Royal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an international border with the Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With almost 40million residents across an area of , it is the List of states and territories of the United States by population, largest state by population and List of U.S. states and territories by area, third-largest by area. Prior to European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following Mexican War of Independence, its successful war for independence, but Mexican Cession, was ceded to the U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Weaverville, California
Weaverville ( Chimariko: ) is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California, United States. Its population is 3,667 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,600 from the 2010 census. History Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a historic California Gold Rush town. Located at the foot of the current Trinity Alps Wilderness Area, Weaverville was once home to approximately 2,000 Chinese gold miners and had its own Chinatown. Many of these miners left once the gold rush ended, and the majority of the Chinatown burned down in a 1911 fire. Historical monuments and architecture throughout the town keep this history alive. The Joss House is California's oldest active Chinese temple, housing Chinese artifacts from the 19th century, and is Weaverville's oldest building, built in 1852. A self-guided walking tour of historic downtown buildings (some said to be haunted) is the best way to experience the ambiance and quaint shops and businesses. Logging and tourism were ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iron 44 Helicopter Crash Wreckage
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, being mainly deposited by meteorites in its metallic state. Extracting usable metal from iron ores requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching , about 500 °C (900 °F) higher than that required to smelt copper. Humans started to master that process in Eurasia during the 2nd millennium BC and the use of iron tools and weapons began to displace copper alloys – in some regions, only around 1200 BC. That event is considered the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. In the modern world, iron alloys, such as steel, stainless steel, cast iron and special steels, are by far the most common industrial metals, due to their mechanical propertie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents, bridge failures, and railroad accidents. The NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous materials releases that occur during transportation. The agency is based in Washington, D.C. It has three regional offices, located in Anchorage, Alaska; Aurora, Colorado; and Federal Way, Washington. The agency also operated a national training center at its Ashburn facility. History The origin of the NTSB was in the Air Commerce Act of 1926, which assigned the United States Department of Commerce responsibility for investigating domestic aviation accidents. Before the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA; at the time the CA ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the years, the company had multiple divisions, including GE Aerospace, aerospace, GE Power, energy, GE HealthCare, healthcare, lighting, locomotives, appliances, and GE Capital, finance. In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2023, the company was ranked 64th in the Forbes Global 2000, ''Forbes'' Global 2000. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE—Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973)—have been awarded the Nobel Prize. From 1986 until 2013, GE was the owner of the NBC television network through its ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fuel Control Unit
A fuel control unit (FCU) is a control system for gas turbine engines. Fundamentals of turbine engine control Gas turbine engines are primarily controlled by the amount of fuel supplied to the combustion chambers. With this in mind we can say that, the very simplest fuel control for a turbine engine is a fuel valve operated by the pilot. Many pre-production models of early turbojet engines featured just that, but it was soon found that this kind of control was difficult and dangerous in actual use. Closing the valve too quickly while trying to reduce power output could cause a ''lean die-out'', where the airflow through the engine blows the flame out of the combustion chamber and extinguishes it. Adding fuel too quickly to increase power can damage the turbines due to excessive heat, or the sudden rise in combustion chamber pressure may cause a compressor stall. Another danger of too much fuel is a ''rich blow-out'', where soaking the fire with fuel displaces the oxygen and lowers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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General Electric T58
The General Electric T58 is an American turboshaft engine developed for helicopter use. First run in 1955, it remained in production until 1984, by which time some 6,300 units had been built. On July 1, 1959, it became the first turbine engine to gain FAA certification for civil helicopter use. The engine was license-built and further developed by de Havilland in the UK as the Gnome, in the West Germany by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz, and also manufactured by Alfa Romeo and the IHI Corporation. Design and development Development commenced with a 1953 US Navy requirement for a helicopter turboshaft to weigh under 400 lb (180 kg) while delivering 800 hp (600 kW). The engine General Electric eventually built weighed only 250 lb (110 kg) and delivered 1,050 hp (780 kW) and was soon ordered into production. First flight was on a modified Sikorsky HSS-1 in 1957, and civil certification for the CT58-100 variant was obtained two years later. A numbe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Accidents And Incidents Involving The Sikorsky S-61
An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers and attorneys who specialize in unintentional injury prefer to avoid using the term ''accident'', and focus on conditions that increase risk of severe injury or that reduce injury incidence and severity. For example, when a tree falls down during a wind storm, its fall may not have been directly caused by human error, but the tree's type, size, health, location, or improper maintenance may have contributed to the result. Most car crashes are the result of dangerous behavior and not purely ''accidents''; however, English speakers started using that word in the mid-20th century as a result of media manipulation by the US automobile industry. Accidental deaths were much less frequent before high-powered machinery began to spread with the Industrial Revolutio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aviation Accidents And Incidents In The United States In 2008
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot air balloons and airships. Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This was the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying of Otto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the ''Wright Flyer'', the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet engine which enabled aviation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |