page_title: 2005 Nias Island Sea King crash
hierarchical_section_title: 2005 Nias Island Sea King crash
caption_attribution_description: English: Nias, Indonesia (Apr. 5, 2005) &#8211; An air crewman aboard an U.S. Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Five (HC-5), embarked about the Military Sealift Command (MSC) combat stores ship USNS Niagara Falls (T-AFS 3), makes final preparations for take-off as Chief Hospital Corpsman Patrick Nardulli, rear, monitors his patients. The U.S. Navy helicopter crew, accompanied by medical personnel assigned to the MSC hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), evacuated the two survivors of the April 2, 2005 crash of a Royal Australian Navy Sea King helicopter in Nias, Indonesia. At the request of the government of Indonesia, Mercy and Niagara Falls are on station off the coast of Nias, providing assistance as determined appropriate and necessary with earthquake disaster relief efforts and provide medical assistance to those in need. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Joshua Smith (RELEASED)
context_page_description: The 2005 Nias Island Sea King crash was the crash of a Royal Australian Navy Westland WS-61 Sea King helicopter of 817 Squadron RAN at approximately 4 pm on 2 April 2005 with 11 personnel on board. The accident occurred while "Shark 02" was making its approach to land on a sports field located near the village of Tuindrao in the region of Amandraya on the Indonesian island of Nias. "Shark 02" had been providing humanitarian support to the people of the earthquake-devastated region.
  A Defence Board of Inquiry later found that the primary cause of the accident was a failure of the aircraft's flight control systems. This was as a result of a series of errors, and a general practice of poor maintenance on the aircraft.
context_section_description: The 2005 Nias Island Sea King crash was the crash of a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Westland WS-61 Sea King helicopter (tail number N16-100, call sign "Shark 02") of 817 Squadron RAN at approximately 4 pm (local time) on 2 April 2005 with 11 personnel on board. The accident occurred while "Shark 02" was making its approach to land on a sports field located near the village of Tuindrao in the region of Amandraya on the Indonesian island of Nias. "Shark 02" had been providing humanitarian support to the people of the earthquake-devastated region.
  A Defence Board of Inquiry later found that the primary cause of the accident was a failure of the aircraft's flight control systems. This was as a result of a series of errors, and a general practice of poor maintenance on the aircraft.
caption: The two crash survivors aboard a United States Navy MH-60S Seahawk, 5 April 2005.
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