Just over a week after the crash of the F-16 of the US military stationed in South Korea, the US military crashed another plane.
According to a report by the global network, a US Marine Corps helicopter was lost in San Diego, California on the 7th, and the US military has confirmed that the helicopter crashed in Pine Valley, Southern California, but the whereabouts of the five Marines on board are still unknown.
"Super Stallion" helicopter
According to the website "Power", it was a CH-53E "Super Stallion" helicopter that crashed, which is part of the 16th Flying Group of the Marine Corps. The aircraft took off from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada on the night of the 6th and planned to fly to Miramar Air Station in California, but lost contact with the ground tower on the way.
Although the US military did not disclose the cause of the helicopter crash, judging from US media reports, the accident is likely to be related to the poor local climate. CNN claims that California has been hit by two atmospheric river storms in successive days, with maximum rainfall of up to 15 centimeters in some areas and gusts of up to 20 miles per hour at high altitudes. After the helicopter lost contact, the rescue team was forced to withdraw due to snowfall and strong convective weather, but the search and rescue mission is still ongoing.
The flight path of the aircraft and the crash site
Of course, the bad weather is only one of the speculations that caused the helicopter crash, because some American media pointed out that the CH-53E "Super Stallion" was originally a transport helicopter specially designed to cope with harsh weather and lift large equipment, but since it was put into service in 1981, this helicopter has had many accidents.
For example, in 2016, two Super Stallion helicopters collided during night training in Hawaii, killing 12 Marines, and in 2018, a Super Stallion crashed near the border between California and Mexico, leaving four crew members presumed dead.
The "Super Stallion" hoisting the F-35
As mentioned above, the "Super Stallion" is a helicopter that transports people and heavy equipment, and in the event of an accident, the casualties are far greater than normal helicopters, according to the "Power" website, since its entry into service, this helicopter has killed 350 people in non-combat conditions worldwide, with an accident rate twice that of ordinary helicopters, and an average of 6 accidents per 100,000 flight hours.
The U.S. military blames pilot errors for frequent Superstallion accidents, such as the 2016 collision in Hawaii, which the U.S. Marine Corps investigation report claims that pilots' inadequate training, low combat readiness, and "lack of attention to aviation practice" contributed to the tragedy.
But is that really the case?
If we look through the reports of the American media, it is not difficult to find that in addition to a few accidents in the early 80s of the last century, the accident rate of the "super stallion" has risen sharply after entering the new century, especially after the bearing warning system was improved in 2000, the accident rate of this helicopter has not been reduced, and if the accident in February this year is counted, the "super stallion" has had a total of 15 accidents since 2002.
"Super Stallion" hoisted the F-35 and took off
Some US media have pointed out that the US military's investigation report on the man-made accident of the "super stallion" is "vague", and mechanical failure should be the main factor causing the frequent accidents of the aircraft, and behind this is the embarrassing situation of the hollowing out of the US industry.
Like Boeing, which has been exposed to several scandals recently, helicopter giant Sikorsky is struggling to survive the hollowing out of the American industry, announcing last year that it would lay off 179 employees, most of them engineers and research and development staff, because of a persistent shortage of production materials.
Aircraft can be said to be the highest embodiment of a country's manufacturing level, to manufacture an aircraft not only needs a supporting industrial system, but also needs sufficient talent reserves, both are indispensable, but now the United States is losing one of the "legs", because decades of industrial hollowing wave has already eroded the American industrial system, whether it is the frequent crashes of US military planes, or the Boeing passenger plane scandal, are only one of the epitome of the decline of the American manufacturing industry.