An educational website containing extensive information on the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

Recall the groundings. But not much else, thanks for the memory tickler.

We've learned a lot come a long way since with this aircraft!

Remember this Class A accident well. We studied it at the Safety Center. EPA got involved with the rebuild cleaning process at Corpus. They said the PSI was too high. Consequently Walnut Shell dust remained in components and lubricants were eccenually coated with the dust and baked like bread. This caused failure of the mixing transmission. Additionally, the emergency procedure was a power on autorotation to the ground. When the crew stopped their descent, the aircraft came apart. CH-47s around the world were grounded for quite some time. The CH-47 flying hours had to be flown off by other types of helicopters such as Hueys, Cobras, and OH-58s or the Army would lose that funding the next FY. I flew seven days a week for about two months in an OH-58 at Hunter. Even taught many a crew chief to fly during that time.