1982 Fort Lazar helicopter crash

On February 12, 1982, an Imperial Army Rikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed at Fort Lazar, Spawn Empire while attempting to land. The helicopter was hit by a strong gust of wind and crashed into a grove of trees next to the landing zone and killed the two occupants on board, as well as a ground controller. One of those killed on the helicopter was Brigadier General Charlie W. Hale, a close confidant of the then emperor.

An investigation determined that the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Carl Hanratty, felt pressured to arrive on time, despite the poor weather at the landing zone which would have made a safe landing almost impossible. General Hale had dismissed a series of pilots for failing to meet his expectations. The performance of the ground LZ controller, Technical Sergeant Robert Chandler, was also criticized. Chandler cleared the helicopter to land despite another landing zone with clearer weather being available.

## Crash

At 9:10 PM on February 12, 1982, an Imperial Army Rikorsky S-61, callsign *Goose 1 actual*, departed the Smokland Army Terminal. On board were 34-year-old pilot Lieutenant Colonel Carl Hanratty and 62-year-old Brigadier General Charlie W. Hale. The flight had been ordered by and authorized by Hale to transport him from the Army Terminal in Smokland, Territory of Teuta, across the bay of Rawabi to Fort Lazar, a major army base outside Neu Rawabi. The route was familiar to Lt. Col. Hanratty, an experience helicopter pilot, and he had flown it 3 times in the month before the accident.

The weather in Smokland was rapidly deteriorating by the time the helicopter took off. Heavy rain showers had pounded the area the entire day, and they only grew in intensity throughout the evening and into the night. Hanratty had received a weather briefing for both Smokland and Fort Lazar and had determined that, so long as the weather held, the flight could be safely made.

Unbeknownst to Lt. Col. Hanratty or Gen. Hale, Fort Lazar's Landing Zone (LZ) 1, the primary helicopter landing area at the base, had been closed due to a power outage. The only functioning helicopter landing area was thus LZ 2, a smaller installation on the far northern end of the base. LZ 2 had only one temporary pad and control booth, compared to LZ 1's 3 concrete pads and radar-equipped tower. At 9:32 Hanratty contacted the Fort Lazar Air Control Sector and relayed his intentions to land at LZ 1. He was informed by the controller on duty that LZ 1 was closed, and was offered vectors to either LZ 2 or to the military operations area at Neu Rawabi International Airport, 15 miles from Fort Lazar. Hanratty elected to attempt a landing at LZ 2, something he had only done once. He then contacted the LZ 2 controller, Technical Sergeant Robert Chandler. Chandler gave Hanratty intial vectors for a circling approach to the LZ.

By 9:36 PM, the weather had deteriorated significantly at Fort Lazar and heavy rain and strong wind pounded the base. At this point, Tsgt. Chandler again offered vectors to the Neu Rawabi airport, but Lt. Col. Hanratty again stated he wished to land as soon as possible at LZ 2. Hanratty then asked Chandler for current weather information at the LZ. Chandler was forced to call the base weather station after he realized his weather terminal was not working. The weather for LZ 2 was, by now, almost 10 minutes out of date. The wind gauge was also not working, and apparently hadn't been for some time. Chandler offered one final time to provide vectors to Neu Rawabi airport, which Hanratty vehemently refused. Chandler then, apparently reluctantly, cleared the aircraft to land on Pad 1.

At 9:42 PM, the helicopter had descended to 500 feet and was and was nearly over the pad. Because of the limited visibility from inside the control booth, Tsgt. Chandler stepped out to guide the aircraft down for landing. He brought a flashlight and a portable radio. With Chandler's guidance, Lt. Col. Hanratty descended to around 20 feet above the ground when a massive gust of wind, later estimated to have reached at least 78 knots, hit the helicopter from behind. Hanratty immediately lost control of the aircraft and it drifted forward rapidly. The main rotor struck the ground and propelled the helicopter directly into a grove of sycamore trees around 50 feet from the pad. During this time, Chandler was struck and killed by the helicopter. Both occupants of the helicopter were killed on impact. The small amount of fuel on board detonated and spread through the cabin. Hanratty was found to have died from blunt force trauma after his head struck the instrument panel. General Hale was found to have burned to death in the fire.

The accident was not discovered until the next morning when a helicopter which was surveying damage to the base after the storm flew over the LZ. Initially, base personnel had believed General Hale had elected to fly to the Neu Rawabi airport, believing that not even an experienced pilot would attempt a landing in the conditions that night.

## Investigation

The Imperial Army opened an immediate investigation into the crash. Due to General Hale's connections, an Imperial Inquiry Commission was also formed to investigate the accident. The joint investigation released its report on January 3, 1983. Also included in the report were technical details from Rikorsky Helicopters and the Imperial Transportation Safety Office.

### Crash sequence

The investigation found that Lt. Col. Hanratty was manually controlling the throttle, something not typically done when landing. As the gust hit the aircraft, Hanratty likely instinctually pulled back on the collective and pushed forward on the cyclic to initiate a missed approach, but because the throttle was unlinked from the collective, the helicopter failed to climb and instead pitched forward into the trees.

### Weather

The weather in the Neu Rawabi area was incredibly poor the night of the accident. In fact, the rainfall that night set a still standing record in regards to the amount of rainfall at Fort Lazar. In addition to heavy rain, gusts of wind in excess of 50 knots battered the base.

### Hanratty's performance

The investigation found that Lt. Col. Hanratty was likely under a large amount of pressure to complete the flight as he had been ordered to by General Hale. Hale had a history of dismissing pilots who had failed to meet his strict expectations. Hanratty has expressed that he was afraid to be dismissed by Hale because he would likely be sent to Kazakhstan to combat bandits, something he did not wish to do. This likely pushed Hanratty to turn down offers to be directed to a safer airport and attempt a very risky landing.

Hanratty was a very experienced pilot with over 3,400 hours in various rotorcraft. He had been reprimanded twice in the past for unsafe flying practices, including "splitting the throttle" (manually unlinking the throttle from the collective) during landing.

### Chandler's performance

The investigation determined that Tsgt. Chandler handled the situation poorly. By law in the Empire of Spawn, all military aircraft controllers make the final decisions regarding the actions of pilots. Chandler only offered vectors to Neu Rawabi airport, and backed down when challenged by Lt. Col. Hanratty. The weather at the LZ was clearly very poor, and Chandler could have simply ordered Hanratty to fly to Neu Rawabi, rather than clearing him to land in the dangerous conditions.

### Other factors

The investigation also presented a list of additional factors leading to the accident. With the closure of LZ 1, the LZ 1 radar was also turned off. The LZ 1 radar data was also used by the controllers at LZ 2. With the shutdown of the main radar, Tsgt. Chandler was forced to manually tune a backup weather radar. This was a common, but unsanctioned, practice.

In addition, two controllers are supposed to be on duty at the LZ 2 control booth, Tsgt. Chandler was the only controller present.

### Conclusion

The joint commission determined that the main cause of the accident was: "... Lt. Col. Hanratty's decision, made under great stress, to continue a risky landing at LZ 2 despite the dangerous weather conditions. Lt. Col. Hanratty's decision, thus, led to the aircraft being forced down by the wind." Other factors including Tsgt. Chandler's decision to clear the helicopter to land were also cited as contributing causes.

## Aftermath

A state funeral was held for General Hale and was attended by the Emperor. Both Lt. Col. Hanratty and Tsgt. Chandler were buried with military honors. LZ 2 was permanently closed, and an improved LZ 3 was constructed on the northwest edge of the base.