Keep Super Stallions Grounded or Else, Badham Warns Navy

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) on Wednesday warned Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr. that he should continue the grounding of all the accident-plagued Super Stallion helicopters or else be ready to explain to Congress why the aircraft are safe to fly.

Badham, in a statement from his Washington office, said he had talked with Lehman on Wednesday. He said he told Lehman: “If the helicopters aren’t grounded, I’ll expect you to come before the Congress to explain your decision and justify their continued operation.”

In an interview with The Times, Badham said: “I was in effect telling the Navy, ‘The ball is in your court. You tell us why you should be flying these aircraft.’ ”

There are 92 Super Stallions worldwide, and about 45 are based in Orange County, according to the Department of Defense.

Last Friday, Badham held a press conference in his Newport Beach office to castigate Navy officials for allowing use of the Super Stallions despite knowledge dating back to 1976 that the helicopters may have structural problems.

Badham said the Navy had withheld information about the helicopters from Congress. “I was outraged when I heard that the Navy Department has not played fair,” Badham said.

Badham said that in his phone conversation Wednesday with Lehman, the Navy secretary “assured” him that the Navy will provide congressional investigators further data on the Super Stallion.

Lehman also told him that a “range of options” exists on what to do with the controversial helicopters, Badham said. He said the options include a testing program and the complete grounding of the aircraft.

Lehman said he will “personally review” the options by early next week, Badham said.

Badham said he expects a House Armed Services subcommittee to start hearings “within the next two weeks” on issues raised by the Super Stallion crashes. “The hearings will be held by the Procurement Subcommittee, and the question will be, shall we (in Congress) continue to buy these aircraft?” Badham said. Badham is the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

The Marines designate their Super Stallion helicopters as CH-53Es, and the Navy designation is MH-53E. The helicopter, made by Sikorsky Aircraft Co., is the largest made outside the Soviet Union and costs up to $24 million.

The helicopter has been involved in six fatal crashes that killed 24 Marines. In several other non-fatal crashes, 17 Marines have been injured, according to Department of Defense records.

The Marine Corps and the Navy temporarily grounded the Super Stallions on Feb. 14 for a check of the main gearbox assembly on one of the three jet engines the aircraft use.

Badham said Wednesday that as far as he knows, the Super Stallions are still grounded under that February order. But he said his call for a grounding of the helicopters is for a larger issue: to assess the aircraft’s overall safety.

Badham said that while the current grounding of the Super Stallions is for only one safety aspect to be studied, he wants a grounding order that would require a complete safety investigation.