The large helicopter that crashed into the Quillayute River, killing three of four crewmen, was an updated model which was being flown to its home base of Sitka, Alaska, from Elizabeth City, N.C.
Although the specific type of work done on the copter was unclear Wednesday, aircraft routinely go to the Coast Guard’s Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City for maintenance, repairs or modifications, a spokesman said.
Once the work was done, a different crew had flown the MH-60T helicopter west to Astoria, where it received routine maintenance and refueling, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw in Seattle.
It also received a new crew to finish the flight to the helicopter’s home base in Sitka.
The Sitka-based crew that was aboard when the copter crashed had gone earlier to Astoria specifically to fly it to Alaska, Bradshaw said.
Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, said the helicopter would have needed fuel between Astoria and Sitka, but he didn’t know where that refueling stop would be.
“We will find that out and make it available,” he said.
An administrative investigation, conducted out of the 17th Coast Guard District based in Juneau, Alaska, will be launched to determine if the crew acted appropriately, Blore said.
A mishap investigation, to be conducted out of Washington, D.C., is expected to determine the cause of the crash.
The helicopter was equipped with a voice recorder, the admiral said.
Although the names of the four crewmen were withheld until notification of family members, Blore did say that the crew commander was an experienced pilot, and the crew was equipped with charts that would have shown the power lines that cross the mouth of the Quillayute River to James Island.
Prior to the crash, the crew had failed to perform two routine check-ins.
Blore said crews are expected to check in with controllers every 15 minutes.
When the crew didn’t check in at 9:30 a.m., Coast Guard Station Astoria started to alert other stations to try to contact it on other radio channels, he said.
When there was no check in at 9:45 a.m., the Coast Guard sent out two helicopter crews from Astoria, two Air Station Port Angeles crews aboard smaller MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, and three Coast Guard Station Quillayute River response boat crews.
Dive teams from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and the National Park Service assisted the Coast Guard, along with Quileute tribal response teams and the Canadian Air Force.
“At that time, they were considered a search-and-rescue case,” Blore said.
The power lines fell in the water after the crash. The Clallam County Public Utility District deactivated them for the Coast Guard.
The helicopter remained submerged inverted in the shallow water Wednesday evening. It will be salvaged once investigators are finished at the scene.
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Reporter Tom Callis, reporting from LaPush, can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Paige Dickerson, reporting from Port Angeles, can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
