On August 5, 2008 a Carson Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N then under contract with the U.S. Forest Service crashed on take-off, nine of thirteen on board were killed. The accident helicopter was working a fire near the Iron Complex in a remote area of the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest northwest of Redding CA. She had already made two trips transporting wildland firefighting crews to safe locations. At about 7:30 PM, the S-61N helo had picked up a third load of firefighters and was on her initial takeoff climb after departure when the main rotor assembly lost power and crashed.
The nine who died that day are:
Jim Ramage, 64, from Redding, CA -- USFS Inspector Pilot, Shasta Trinity National Forest
Roark Schwanenberg, 54, from Lostine, Oregon -- Pilot, Carson Helicopters
From Grayback Forestry (7 employees)
Shawn Blazer, 30, from Medford, Oregon
Scott Charlson, 25, from Phoenix, Oregon
Edrik Gomez, 19, from Ashland, Oregon
Matt Hammer, 23, from Grants Pass, Oregon
Steven Caleb Renno, 21, from Cave Junction, Oregon
Bryan Rich, 29, from Medford, Oregon
David Steele, 19, from Ashland, Oregon
After the crash the USFS cancelled its contract with Carson Helicopters.
In the latest of a series of legal actions resulting from the Iron 44 crash, two former employees of Carson Helicopters were indicted on Feb. 4, 2013 of criminal charges stemming from an alleged conspiracy to defraud the US Forest Service. These charges carry up to 20 years in prison. According to a Feb. 4 article from Oregon Live (Feb. 4th Oregon Live article) the men are accused of
"falsifying the weight and takeoff power of the helicopter that crash and other helicopters that were a part of a 'call-when-needed' contract worth up to $20 million to Carson Helicopters."
According to the indictment, these falsified weight and takeoff power charts were then included in the charts used by flight crews and pilots in aerial firefighting missions. The Feb. 4th Oregon Live article includes a brief synopsis of prior legal actions stemming from the Iron 44 crash. You might also want to check out a report from KVAL (with photos and a video clip) on the indictment along with a brief review of the crash and prior legal actions.
Other sources of information
Always Remember on Iron 44 Sikorsky S-61N crash that including but not limited to links to the NTSB reports and dockets, memorials of those who died in the crash, maps of the crash scene, and links to some media coverage.
Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has covered the Iron 44 crash and recently wrote about the indictment of the former Carson employees here.
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