Badham Says Coroner Should Not Rule Out Pilot Error in Copter Crash

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) said Monday that the conclusion of a deputy coroner who ruled out pilot error in last Thursday’s crash of a Marine Corps Super Stallion CH-53E helicopter “was totally unfounded.”

Five Marines aboard the helicopter died in the crash near the Salton Sea. Imperial County Deputy Coroner Donald H. Cole said Saturday that he does not believe the cause was pilot error because “the aircraft went straight down.”

Badham said Cole’s analysis “has nothing to do with aerodynamics.”

“I’ve flown in helicopters, including Apaches, Cobras and Blackhawks,” Badham said. “Depending on the action of its tail rotors and so forth, a helicopter can come down in any direction. But to say that (the cause) was mechanical and not human is totally unfounded.”

Cole, who had been called to the scene of a homicide, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Marine Corps spokeswoman Gunnery Sgt. Peggy Cauley declined to comment on the cause of the accident.

Marines Investigating

“We’re waiting for the result of our investigation, which could take as long as six to nine months,” she said.

“As for the deputy coroner’s statements, that was strictly his opinion,” Cauley said.

A spokesman for Sikorsky Aircraft Co. of Stratford, Conn., which built the $16-million Super Stallion, also declined comment.

The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Salton Sea Test Range in the Imperial Valley. The Super Stallion, which was based at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, crashed in the desert and burned while on a routine training mission.

Killed were the pilot, Maj. David J. Brandenburg, 34, of Mission Viejo, and his crew of four: co-pilot 1st Lt. Michael T. Reilly, 29, of Laguna Hills; Lance Cpl. Gregory L. Michaels, 19, of Tustin and Frenchville, Pa.; Lance Cpl. Thomas H. Baddeley III, 21, of Tustin and Yardley, Pa., and Cpl. Mark B. Burris, 21, of Tustin and Toronto, Ohio.

It was the latest of several accidents and fatal crashes over a two-year period involving the Super Stallion.

Badham, who as a member of the House Armed Services Committee initiated an inquiry into the crashes, said he spoke to committee staff members and Marine Corps officials in Washington immediately after Thursday’s crash and was told that initial evidence pointed to pilot error.

“Based on the preliminary examination of the site, there was no evidence to show that it was any sort of mechanical difficulty,” Badham said. “If it’s not mechanical, then it’s human error.”

A memorial service for the five crewmen will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel of the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.