Navy helicopter crewman killed in North Island accident
The Navy Times reports the sad news of a helicopter crewman killed last week in a fuel tank accident at Naval Air Station North Island in California.
Naval Helicopter Aircrewman 1st Class Jonathan Richard Clement was declared dead on July 31 at the UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, a day after an auxiliary fuel tank detached from an HH-60H Seahawk helicopter and struck him and a fellow petty officer.
The other sailor was treated and released from the hospital after suffering what officials at Naval Air Forces described as “minor injuries.”
Both sailors were assigned to the “Firehawks” of North Island-based Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85.
The Naval Safety Center reported the mishap on the morning of Aug. 6, indicating only that the helicopter crew had been conducting “hot seat” training at the sprawling air base when the accident occurred.
There but for the grace of God, go I. Hot crew swaps and hot refueling were a routine event back in my Helo days. If the ship was so configured, we didn’t even land for gas, a HIFR (Helo In-Flight Refueling) was performed.
Fair winds and following seas, AW1 Clement. Training can be just as dangerous as combat.
Category: Navy
I have to wonder how or why he put himself under a tank.
One of the first things I learned upon getting to my squadron was to never get under the tailhook, drop tank, or any ordnance hanging from a station.
Hopefully NAVOSH will send out a directive or reminder so another wake up call written in blood isn’t needed.
Fair Winds and Following Seas Petty Officer Clement.
The article is lacking on details, but I would postulate a HIFR was involved, and either the drop tank was incorrectly mounted and gave way with the weight of the JP, or the tank was jettisoned in error by a front seater.
Something’s not right here. They’re calling this a ground mishap.
From the article:
‘[…]
It’s not characterized as an air incident but rather a ground accident, and the cause remains under investigation.
“It was an auxiliary tank and it had fuel in it and might have weighed in excess of 1,500 lbs,” said Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Ron Flanders.
[…].’
If they were on deck turning while hot-seating the aircraft, how/why did two Sailors get underneath the auxiliary fuel tank?
As a former ASO, this isn’t adding up.
There is absolutely no reason I can think of where two people would crawl under an aux tank during a ground hot refueling. Every article can be defined as an item with an error in it; I think that applies here. The only refueling operation that makes any sense to me is a HIFR gone terribly wrong.
From the article: “…a day after an auxiliary fuel tank detached from an HH-60H Seahawk helicopter and struck him and a fellow petty officer.”
It doesn’t say if the helo is in the air or grounded, but an object that weighs 3/4 of a ton is nothing to sneeze at, regardless. He may have not been able to get out of the way quickly enough.
A very sad event, no matter what.
Rest in Peace.
Gravity is always in play, if you are looking straight up at your job … you are in the wrong position.
Very tragic in deed.
RIP PO Clement.
I had no idea helos could be re fueled while hovering above the deck. When was this type of evolution started?
Decades.
Early 50’s …
Rest in peace Brother. God be with your family.
Rest in peace, PO Clement.
SA? or screw up? Another young person lost. Peace to His Family. Not to be ghoulish, but will the Navy release details when the investigation is done, or we have to search it out? I’m sure they will call this a “learning opportunity.” Saw the results of my fair share of “accidents” that ended up being caused by some body making an error. Lot of times the whole cover up thing went on.
I’ve spent a few TDYs at NASNI working out of HSC 85’s facilities – condolences to the family and shipmates of AW1 Clement.
Trying to download an “empty” droptank? Normally in the AOs realm but maybe AW1 trying to help out? Many a crushed limb as come from people not checking them.
RIP AW1
This has been known to bite people, when they check the aux tank’s fuel level with the old “thump” check. These incidents usually result in a dented tank and red faces.
RIP PO Clement, and thoughts and prayers for the family.