US military helicopter has reportedly crashed near the North Korean border

Hopefully this doesn't mean that the Norks don't have emp technology in effective usability.

reply to post by RothchildRancor


It's a helicopter. They go down, sometimes a lot. They're a million different pieces, going in a million different directions at the same time, held together with a frame.

I was waiting to read further into the report -
"Helicopter crashes near North Korean Border, 12 members of seal team 6 that killed Bin Laden were aboard...etc etc".

Maybe an infiltration gone bad.

reply to post by andy1972


Using a CH-53 for a covert insertion? They're not crazy. A CH-53 is old, slow, loud, smokey, and shows up on radar bigger than that giant slab sided barn door. You don't use one if you want to be covert, when you have stealthy helicopters that can be flown over there and used. Or even use Little Birds and go in low level.

reply to post by CaptainBeno


Looks like a Hind to me.

reply to post by gariac


Doesn't quite match though. Look at the engine on the side of the fuselage. That's an American style of mounting, and that screen doesn't quite fit the Hind.

That particular picture was used in a news article out of Turkey after the crash of a Black Hawk carrying 17 Turkish troops. Everyone on board was killed after the aircraft flew into the side of a mountain. I believe that it might be an Mi-28 picture though.

reply to post by gariac


Looks like it's an Mi-35 actually.



I can't find the exact crash that it was involved in, but that's the closest match I could find to it.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by andy1972

 

Using a CH-53 for a covert insertion? They're not crazy. A CH-53 is old, slow, loud, smokey, and shows up on radar bigger than that giant slab sided barn door.

Exactly, give them something big and easy to shoot at. Maybe they gave the Norks a rabbit to chase hoping they'd throw the first punch, leaving them open to retaliate.

reply to post by andy1972


Then they've had plenty of opportunity to do that prior to now. This was simply a helicopter accident while flying over a bombing range. A range that's in South Korean territory. If it wasn't, something would have happened by now. Helicopter accidents happen.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by RothchildRancor

 

It's a helicopter. They go down, sometimes a lot. They're a million different pieces, going in a million different directions at the same time, held together with a frame.

Helicopters are 70000 pieces flying in opposition to eachother around an oil leak waiting for metal fatigue to set in.

reply to post by goou111


That is always dangerous area...
North Korea has Soviet missile systems...
They can be dangerous...

reply to post by dragnik


Have you seen the Soviet missiles they have? They have about 3 that are dangerous anymore, and a lot that are from the 1960s era. They still have SA-2s hanging around.

Originally posted by projectvxn

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by RothchildRancor

 

It's a helicopter. They go down, sometimes a lot. They're a million different pieces, going in a million different directions at the same time, held together with a frame.

Helicopters are 70000 pieces flying in opposition to eachother around an oil leak waiting for metal fatigue to set in.

I remember a pilot from my days with 1-17 CAV (ABN) saying that once a Helicopter leaves the factory, it is always trying to kill you.

Plus people have to also remember that military helicopters are flown at low levels and high speeds quite often. There is a lot of wear and tear on them. Kudos to the maintenance guys that keep 'em flying.

I'm not sure of this number, but if memory serves me right, while downrange, every bird had a complete teardown every 300 operational hours. As a maint. guy yourself, I'm sure you know better than I would.

SCOUTS OUT!

reply to post by TDawgRex


The CH-53E usually averages a 44-1 maintenance to flying ratio. That's one reason they're developing the K, which, unfortunately for the Marines, won't go operational until 2018 or so. They've reached the point where they're pulling -53Es out of the Boneyard and returning them to service. The average E is over 3000 hours into a roughly 6100 hour lifespan, and is 15 years old. On a plane that would be bad enough, but on a helicopter, that flies low and fast and takes a beating every flight, that's a disaster waiting to happen.

reply to post by Zaphod58


You are not carefool enough, they are much stronger than Iraq was.
Even that war in 50s', that war was mostly on 'your' side

reply to post by dragnik


They are much stronger in ground forces. Their air forces, and their AAA is much weaker than Iraq was. The biggest plane in their inventory is the MiG-21, which is Vietnam era, along with a number of MiG-15/17s which were in the first Korean War. They have some advanced SAMs, but not many.

reply to post by TDawgRex


It's about 360 hours or so. And a more in depth at 720.

There's also monthly and weekly inspections that aren't as involved.

A firefighter on scene after the crash said that a strong wind gust may have hit them as they were trying to land.

Most of the Marines on board were from Marine Corps Base Hawaii, along with two soldiers stationed in South Korea. The aircraft was deployed from Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 out of MCAS Miramar, assigned to the 31st MEU out of Okinawa. One enlisted crew member, the two soldiers, and two infantry are still in the hospital, but their injuries are described as cuts and bruises mostly.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Interesting. I can't say I've ever seen the MI-35, but the paint scheme was obvious old Soviet era. The Hip and Hind aren't all that rare in the states. I kind of think you are crazy to fly old Soviet junk as a private citizen, but so be it. I never understood people driving antique cars either. Now the OV-10 is a military plane that I can understand private citizens flying. You look at photos of crashed OV-10s and that is one rugged plane. I've watched Cal FIre launch them and that plane gets up in the air in a hurry.

Back to the DPRK, they have AN-2 Colts. Tonopah has one for training purposes. It is probably the only bi-plane flown on the NTTR in the modern era. Tonopah has a Hip as well. I believe the Tonopah stash is different from the petting zoo.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Dynamic roll over is sometimes difficult to overcome. If there is even a 2 or 3 degree left or right wheel high slope upon landing in gusting winds, judging the slope limitation could be very troubling.