A Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. helicopter crashed last month due to a loss of power to its main rotor, federal investigators stated, in a preliminary report on the California accident that killed nine forest firefighters.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Aug. 5 crash of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter owned by Carson Helicopters Inc., which was transporting a fire crew in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California.
Witnesses stated the helicopter lifted off more slowly than they would have expected before striking trees and crashing. NTSB stated it is testing fuel samples from a truck that had refueled the helicopter.
The aircraft was built in 1964, according to NTSB, and its engines were made by Fairfield-based General Electric Co.
In separate Sikorsky news, a Chemung County, N.Y., planning board approved initial plans for an expansion at Sikorsky Hawk Works in Big Flats, N.Y. The company indicated it may triple the size of its existing facility there, according to WETM, an NBC affiliate.
Sikorsky has its headquarters in Stratford and is the largest employer in Fairfield County with 8,300 employees at last report.
Sikorsky”™s Hartford-based parent United Technologies Corp. sent investigators to Spain last week to investigate the downing of a Spanair passenger jet whose engines were manufactured by subsidiary Pratt & Whitney of East Hartford. More than 150 people died in the crash.
