THE ACCIDENTS
The CH-53E Super Stallion and MH-53E Sea Dragon have suffered 58 “Class A mishaps.” These are the most serious type of military aviation accidents, times in which there is a loss of life or more than $2 million of damage to the aircraft. Prior to 2009, an accident in this category needed to have only $1 million of damage or loss of life. We obtained data on each of these accidents through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Also included here is a fatal test flight on the Sikorsky runway which killed four employees. The helicopter was slated to be part of the White House’s support fleet.
Sources: Naval Safety Center, contemporary newspaper articles.