BROWN ROBERT LEE

Narrative

After replacing two engine gear boxes to transmission drive shafts and reinspecting, the aircraft departed on the flight. It was observed to explode and fall to the ground burning. The rotor blades became desynchronized due to lack of lubrication in the combining transmission. War Story: The helicopter 66-19069 was stationed at Camp Holloway near Pleiku. I was the aircraft commander on this aircraft earlier in the day before it crashed. After dropping off a sling load as we was leaving a firebase west of Kontum Vietnam a horrible sound came from the back. I circled and landed on the firebase. The blades came to a halt as if a rotor break had been applied, smoothly without a sudden stop. The right nose-box transmission the part of the combining transmission were white hot. A team from the 339th transportation company attached to the 179th ASHC came up in another chinook with repair parts. After off loading the parts I continued my mission in the second aircraft they brought. The fire-base had been run over recently and was not a safe place at night. The team completed the repairs after dark. After a run-up and checking chip detectors the team attempted to fly home. The entire team was loaded on the aircraft and attempted to fly 30 miles back to Camp Holloway SE of Pleiku. About 15 miles into the flight the new combining transmission failed with catastrophic results. It was determined the replacement transmission, a rebuild from the US, had a defective oil lubrication port. From: Roger Lesch