Boeing's CH-47D Chinook helicopter 89-00168.

89-00168

B Company - "Sugar Bears North" unit patch.

242 ASHC / B Company - "Sugar Bears North" D model fielding poster.

B Company - "Sugar Bears North" High Altitude Rescue Team (HART) patch.

89-00168, Boeing D model kit number M3322, was a CH-47D helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 6 September 1990, at 2,444.1 aircraft hours. As of 28 September 2001, 89-00168 had accumulated 1,912.3 D model hours and 4,348.3 total aircraft hours. 89-00168 was a conversion from the original C model Chinook 70-15027. On 19 September 1989, 89-00168 was inducted into the D model program, conversion complete on 13 August 1990, and initially assigned to the unit that would eventually become B Company - "Sugar Bears North", 4th Battalion, 123rd Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Fort Wainwright was the former historic Ladd Field of World War Two era fame. B Company was the former C Company, 228th Aviation Regiment (16 October 1987 - 24 June 1994). C Company was the former 242nd Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Muleskinners" (located in Alaska from November 1971 through 16 October 1987). When United States involvement in the Vietnam conflict ended, 242nd ASHC was re-located from the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) to Alaska. The aviation unit in Alaska at the time was designated the 236th ASHC, 19th Aviation Battalion (April 1971 - November 1971). When the 242nd ASHC re-located to Alaska and re-formed, the unit name changed from "Muleskinners" to "Sugar Bears" and the unit designation went from the 236th ASHC to the 242nd ASHC. At some point, the unit was split into two companies. One company remained in Alaska and became known as "Sugar Bears North". The other company, C Company, 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, was relocated to Fort Kobbe, Panama and became known as "Sugar Bears South". From 14 March 2001 through 9 July 2001, 89-00168, along with 87-00102, 89-00169, and 89-00176, self-deployed to Anchorage, Alaska, then via surface vessel to the country of Thailand to participate in Joint Training Exercise Cobra Gold 2001. The return trip to home station was in reverse order. At some point, B Company, 4th Battalion, 123rd Aviation Regiment was redesignated B Company, 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment. On 19 November 2008, 89-00168 suffered from hard landing at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California, severely damaging the airframe. The aircraft was trucked to Fort Lewis, Washington, for repairs. As of 15 October 2009, this aircraft was 38.1 years old. As of 9 February 2009, the last known location of 89-00168 was at Fort Lewis undergoing repair, assigned to B Company, 1-52nd GSAB, located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Aircraft status: Undergoing repair.

Fort Greely, Alaska

On 28 August 2002, while on a V.I.P (very important person) support mission, 89-00168 experienced a Combining Transmission Right Hand Debris Screen Latch, as indicated on the Maintenance Panel. A precautionary landing was accomplished at Allen Army Airfield, a closed military airport on Fort Greely, Alaska. A request for maintenance support was initiated and a team from Fort Wainwright was quickly dispatched. Aircraft 87-00102 was preparing to conduct a pre-phase maintenance test flight, so was in a position to quickly reach the downed aircraft, about 45 minutes from home station. Upon 87-00102's arrival at Fort Greely, the below photograph was taken. It shows the crew of 89-00168 holding their heads down in shame for breaking the helicopter and disturbing the maintenance officer during his regular noon time coffee and nap.

The crew of 89-00168 awaits transport home in the back of 87-00102.

Two Maintenance Test Pilots (CW4 Mark Morgan and CW2 Gary Brown) and one Technical Inspector (SSG Jay Blessing) examined the contents of the Debris Screen (a wire strainer that detects metallic particles in the oil of the transmission that could indicate impending failure) and discovered fine, hair like stands of metal approximately 3/8 to 1/2 inch in length. The screen was cleaned and the aircraft run-up to see if another latch would occur. Sure enough, the Left Hand Debris Screen latched within minutes of engine start. Screens and filters were pulled and examined, netting the discovery of more particles. A decision was then made to replace the transmission in the field - not a simple task, but do-able.

Utilizing 87-00102, the maintenance team flew the beleaguered crew of 89-00168 home. Plans were made to transport additional soldiers, parts, and equipment to the field site the next morning for the task of replacing the defective component. To save time, a combining transmission is snatched out of an aircraft (89-00167) in Phase - an extensive inspection and repair of Chinook helicopters that occurs every 200 flight hours. Soldiers and equipment arrived at Allen Army Airfield via truck at approximately 1200 hours.

CW2 Brown looks on as SGT John Hart, aided by PVT Smith, provides instruction to the operator, PVT Nicotera, as they use a crane mounted on the back of an LMTV cargo truck to remove the old transmission in 89-00168, as shown below.

The defective transmission in 89-00168 is removed.

SGT Clay (center) supervises the placement of the old combining transmission onto the transport stand in the back of the LMTV. The transmission will be sent to Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), located at Corpus Christi, Texas, for teardown analysis and overhaul. Eventually, some needy Chinook will inherit the rebuilt transmission:

The defective transmission is placed on the transport stand in the cargo area of an LMTV for the trip back to Fort Wainwright.

Using pure muscle power, required components are removed from the old transmission to be placed on the new transmission:

Some required parts are removed from the old transmission to be utilized on the new one.

As dark and gloomy rain clouds form overhead, the new transmission is carefully nudged into place on 89-00168:

The new transmission is installed in 89-00168.

SSG Jose Juvera, Quality Control NCOIC and Chief Technical Inspector for the "Sugar Bears", looks on as the finishing touches are completed on the transmission installation:

Technical Inspector SSG Jose Juvera looks on as the Flight Engineer and Crew Chief finish the installation.

Even though the heavy rain showers eventually came, soaking the team to the bone, a good time was had by all. At approximately 2000 hours local time, the aircraft was run-up, the drive train vibration check was completed, and the aircraft was returned to home station at 2130 hours - giving the team a wonderful look at an awesome sunset in Alaska's interior:

A good time was had by all, including CW4 Morgan.

The Incident at NTC

19 November 2008: While conducting battle field circulation of troops in support of NTC 09-08, CH-47D 89-00168 was making an approach to an area known as FOB Denver. Although minor blowing dust was present, it was light enough the crew never lost visibility to the ground. The copilot (PI) in the right seat was on the controls and initiated a hover down. The aft landing gear contacted first, followed by the forward landing gear. When the aircraft's left front landing gear contacted the ground, it sheared and folded under the aircraft. The folding of the landing gear caused a left roll of the aircraft; the PI reacted to the roll by moving the cyclic aft and right. The Pilot in Command (PC), in the left seat, rode the cyclic with the PI and performed an emergency engine shutdown in an effort to keep the rotor blades from hitting the ground. The Crew Chief, stationed in the aft portion of the cabin, exited the aircraft, discovered the aircraft was leaking fuel and announced the situation over the Intercom System (ICS). The crew and passengers exited the aircraft and ensured accountabilty for all personnel.