DATE: Thursday, June 12, 1997               TAG: 9706120454

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   86 lines

``HOTDOGGING'' PILOT BLAMED FOR CHOPPER CRASH IN GULF

The Florida-based pilot of a Navy helicopter that crashed in the Persian Gulf last year, killing himself and two others, including a Little Creek-based SEAL team member, broke safety rules by ``hotdogging,'' according to a Navy investigation.

The pilot, Lt. Robert Scott Wood Jr., had a record of ``always flying the edge of the envelope'' and frequently beyond his helicopter's safe limits, the inquiry concluded.

``Highly intelligent'' and considered by his peers to be the most skilled pilot in the squadron, Wood had become a role model for many junior officers, the report said, and other pilots in his squadron emulated his flying style.

But his bad habits should have been stopped by his commanding officer, who subsequently lost his job because he failed to correct the pilot's ``pattern of reckless disregard for flight discipline,'' the report said.

An investigation of the Oct. 25, 1996 accident produced a 500-page report, obtained by The Virginian-Pilot under the Freedom of Information Act, that hits hard at the pilot's reputation among the Red Lions of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 15, in Jacksonville, Fla.

Besides Wood, Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Allen Hilliard, the co-pilot, and Petty Officer 1st Class Steven M. Voigt, a member of SEAL Team 8, based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, were killed.

Six other passengers in the helicopter survived, scrambling to safety before the SH-60 Seahawk sank to the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

In the report of Wood's aerial conduct, he was described as a frustrated pilot who was denied his request to fly jets and turned his 10-ton combat-equipped chopper into a ``hot rod.''

During a holding pattern adjacent to the carrier Enterprise, Wood rocked the chopper from side to side, porpoising it up and down, and conducted abrupt turns, the report said.

``The passengers enjoyed the maneuvers, laughing and encouraging the pilots on,'' the report said.

Waiting for his turn to land, he decided to make one last maneuver to impress the SEAL Team members, the report said.

``He took the controls and began a very aggressive course reversal, (putting) the aircraft into a steep climb, with a nose-up attitude of 60 degrees.

``At the top of the climb, the aircraft's air speed was zero, with the passengers experiencing a floating feeling.''

The pilot then made a 180-degree turn, assumed a steep nose-low attitude and increased speed.

The helicopter came out of the dive very low, skimming just 10 feet above the surface in excess of 90 mph, said one of the survivors.

As Wood attempted to recover, the aircraft struck the water hard.

``The helo's nose was buried into the water, throwing all of us forward,'' said another survivor, none of whom were identified in the report. ``I was under water for a while, getting the `washing machine' ride. Everything finally settled, and I came to the surface.''

Rescue helicopters from the Enterprise and boats from other and other nearby ships recovered all nine people aboard.

``Flat hatting by the pilot, not kismet, caused the crash of Red Lion 614,'' Rear Adm. Martin J. Mayer, commander of Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12, wrote in his report to Navy officials.

Flat hatting, according to the report, is any maneuver conducted at low altitude and/or a high rate of speed for thrill purposes over land and water. It is prohibited.

Wood's penchant for horseplay was well-known in his squadron, where other pilots also violated safety rules, the report said.

Hilliard, his co-pilot, was equally responsible, according to the report, because he failed, as the aircraft commander, to exercise his duties in ensuring the safe conduct of the flight.

As a result, the squadron's commanding officer, Cmdr. H.S. Bayes Jr., also was held accountable. He later was relieved of command.

Bayes, in a statement to investigators, acknowledged that on previous occasions Woods was reprimanded for his flying conduct. In July 1996 he landed at an Italian landing zone that had been closed for an unrelated military exercise.

And on Oct. 22, three days before the fatal accident, he was seen flying from the Enterprise in a reckless manner, with his helicopter's nose in an excessive down attitude, followed by an excessive angle of bank as he turned away from the ship.

Bayes said he sternly warned Wood that such airmanship would not be tolerated.

However, investigators concluded that Bayes' command ``revealed a disturbing history . . . where some of the squadron's pilots were routinely flying aircraft beyond (safety) limits,'' violations that were given his ``tacit approval.'' KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT MILITARY ACCIDENT HELICOPTER REPORT

FATALITIES

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu