# Helicopter mechanic owns up to crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213 "2013-05-24T13:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/1 "2013-05-24T13:01:37Z")
[Mechanic takes responsibility for Honolulu emergency](http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2013/130522mechanic-takes-responsibility-for-honolulu-emergency.html?WT.mc_id=130524epilot&WT.mc_sect=tts) A Robinson R22 came down in Honolulu a couple of weeks ago, after an engine failure. > [@](#): > > Swigart operates Hawaii Air Power Labs, maintaining helicopters with two fellow mechanics, one of them still an apprentice. Swigart had held N5ZK in his shop for a month and a half after completing an overhaul, unable to shake a nagging feeling that something had been missed. One night, he returned after dinner and tried to put his unease to rest with yet another detailed inspection. What he missed then would become painfully clear once he got a close look at the badly damaged helicopter on the street: The mixture control cable, where it attaches to the mixture bell crank, had been improperly installed, with limited freedom of movement that put additional stress on the cable. In addition, a spring designed to force the mixture to the full rich position in case that cable failed had been reversed, and when the cable snapped the flow of fuel was cut off entirely. > > “I didn’t catch it,” said Swigart, who signed off on the overhaul, though he had not personally worked on that assembly. He insists that is irrelevant, and that he should have seen it and is solely responsible for the mistake. Swigart took the unusual, if not unprecedented step of contacting local media and speaking publicly about the error. > > “I needed to own up to it,” Swigart explained. It seems that people like to ‘cover their ass…ignments’ and minimise their roles when something goes wrong. It’s good to see that this mechanic not only owned up to his oversight, but did it publicly. One of Swigart’s mechanics made a mistake. Swigart didn’t catch it. He took responsibility for the error. If I owned a helicopter in Honolulu, I think I’d use his shop. Such an error is unlikely to happen again, and Swigart has shown admirable integrity. . ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/2 "2013-05-24T13:36:18Z")
His mamma ought to be thanked. This is the kind of integrity one tends to learn, or not, on the playground when one is about three years old. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/3 "2013-05-24T13:49:50Z")
> [@](#): > > The mixture control cable, where it attaches to the mixture bell crank, had been improperly installed, with limited freedom of movement that put additional stress on the cable. In addition, a spring designed to force the mixture to the full rich position in case that cable failed had been reversed, and when the cable snapped the flow of fuel was cut off entirely. It just occurred to me that some people might not know what a mixture control is. Cars generally operate within a narrow range of altitudes above sea level. Once upon a time, someone living near sea level who wanted to drive over the Rockies had to have his or her carburettor(s) adjusted for the altitude. Nowadays (and for the past few decades) cars take care of altitude changes themselves. As you go higher, the air pressure becomes less. You want to lean the fuel-air mixture so that the ratio is proper for best power. This is done with a control in the cockpit. Unlike a car, aircraft engines are not turned off by turning off the ignition switch. Instead, the pilot pulls the mixture to ‘idle-cutoff’ to shut off the flow of fuel. In the case of the accident helicopter, the mixture control cable broke. A spring should have cause the mixture to go to ‘full rich’ (i.e., the maximum ratio of fuel to air). Since the spring was installed incorrectly, so instead it appears to have caused the mixture to go to idle-cutoff. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/4 "2013-05-24T13:56:55Z")
I find it interesting that some part of his brain knew something was wrong on a subconscious level. Yeah it might have just been a coincidence but then again maybe not. And good on him for owning up to it. Stuff like this is why aviation (and some other fields) have checklists for just about everything. If you try to wing it on your memory sooner or later you’ll screw up with often very bad results. And only vaguely related aviation mechanic wise. Years ago I recall a newspaper story. It was basically “autoknowledge 101 for those silly housewives who don’t even know what oil is”. And no, I am not being mysoginistic, that’s how they sold the story. One lady interviewed sure sounded clueless and gushed on and on about how much she learned from the class. Fair enough. Good for her. Her job btw? Aircraft engine mechanic. Shudder ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/5 "2013-05-24T14:48:09Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > One lady interviewed sure sounded clueless and gushed on and on about how much she learned from the class. > > Fair enough. Good for her. Her job btw? Aircraft engine mechanic. > > Shudder Yeah, it always shocks me when people don’t manage to integrate knowledge very well. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/6 "2013-05-24T15:14:30Z")
Well, good for him. but wouldn’t the FAA have noticed the incorrect cable installment anyway, and then what? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/7 "2013-05-24T15:22:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, good for him. but wouldn’t the FAA have noticed the incorrect cable installment anyway, and then what? The NTSB would have found it. Then they would have looked at the maintenance records to find out who did what. They would have found his signature verifying the aircraft was airworthy. At that point, Swigart could say that it was his mechanic’s fault, and that he signed off on the work based on his trust in him. And then he could say ‘Corrective action has been taken.’ He would have gotten dinged, but I don’t know if he would have lost his license. Owning up to it up-front, he still might get dinged; but it puts him in a much better light with the NTSB, and I think it shows integrity I would want in a mechanic. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-mechanic-owns-up-to-crash/659213/8 "2013-05-24T16:45:28Z")
We are all human, and we all make mistakes. No one likes admitting theirs, because they feel embarrassed, weak, a failure, or whatever. I think this kind of integrity is too rare in my opinion, and I’ve seen it decline since I was young. Two examples: 1972 or so. I accompanied my older sister to high school basketball games. When one of the boys would foul another player, he would raise his hand, not even waiting for the ref to call it. It was the original “my bad” in my opinion. You called a foul on yourself, because that’s what a gentleman and a sportsman does. Everyone did it, and it was just the standard as far as I was concerned. By the time I got to high school, that behavior was rare. Today, everyone throws elbows and mows opponents down starting in grade school and bitches if they get called on it. The NBA spills blood and no one apologizes for shit. Seventh grade: 1976 or so. All-boys quasi-military academy. Hardcore honor code kind of establishment. I stole a pocketknife from a store. Shoplifted. Snagged. Purloined. Feeling guilty, I sold it to a senior boy about a week later. Who took it to the knife store to get a sheath. :smack: They talked, determined what happened, and he gave the knife to the owner. Asked if he could take care of this instead of calling the Feds on me. Store owner said fine. That boy called my mom and ratted me out. Age 17 or so. Threw me under the bus, and stood at attention. That’s integrity. I sure didn’t like it then, but of course I was 13. That young man’s maturity and integrity have stayed with me for 40 years, and I use him as an example all the time. It’s what we want in a mechanic, a contractor - heck, everyone we deal with. Sadly, I find true honesty and ingegrity too rare today. Good on Swigart for manning up.