Helo Was On Humanitarian Mission Following Earthquake

The Chief of the Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders released the Board of Inquiry (BOI) report Friday into the April 2005 loss of a Navy Sea King helicopter that went down on the island of Nias, Indonesia while providing humanitarian aid following an earthquake.

Nine Navy and Air Force flight crew and medical personnel onboard 'SHARK 02' were killed and two seriously injured in the accident, according to the Australian DOD. 

Under the wide-ranging Terms of Reference, the Navy Appointing Authority empowered the BOI to not only examine the factors that directly contributed to the accident, but to also examine many other associated areas including operations, flight safety, logistics support and personnel management.

"After a meticulous examination of the evidence presented during the inquiry, the Board concluded that the primary cause of the accident was a failure of the flight control system. A key component of the flight control system was not properly secured during maintenance, which resulted in the pilots losing ability to control the aircraft. This was the result of a series of errors and non-compliances with Maintenance Regulations" Shalders said.

After a "sad" morning, briefing the families of those killed, Australian Defense Force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told them, "You have my assurance that those who are responsible will be held to account."

Defense chiefs said they were legally prohibited from identifying those facing action, but said they ranged from junior sailors to senior officers, according to the Albury Border Mail. All are in active service except one.

Disciplinary actions range from demotion to court martial with potential "severe" monetary fines.

As ANN reported, the most recent issue with the Australian Navy's fleet of aging Sea Kings was in May when the entire fleet, based at Nowra on the New South Wales south coast, was grounded over safety concerns after a routine maintenance inspection found a safety pin missing from one of the helicopters, similar to the one thought to have contributed to the Nias accident according to the Australian.

The chairwoman of the Federal Government's Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, Joanna Gash, warned against linking May's grounding and the Nias crash, according to ABC News.

"I need to emphasize that this particular incident was totally different to the previous one that we had. Certainly they were to do with split pins, but they were certainly not critical to flight safety," she said at the time.

"The loss of nine Navy and Air Force personnel is deeply felt. This accident was a tragedy and only by learning from our mistakes can we demonstrate that they did not die in vain. We will honor their memories by making flying safer," Shalders said.

FMI: www.defence.gov.au