A Navy helicopter crew smelled fumes and made a "precautionary landing" late Thursday at the Newport News Marine Terminal shortly after taking off from Norfolk Naval Station inside an MH-53E Sea Dragon.
Maintenance crews inspected the aircraft at the terminal and determined the smell was not the result of a fuel leak, and the aircraft was soon cleared for safe flight back to Norfolk, said Cmdr. Mike Kafka, spokesman for Naval Air Force Atlantic.
"The smell was attributed to normal operations of the engines mixed with the rain," Kafka said.
The helicopter returned to the naval station around 11 p.m.
The incident comes as the Navy's Sea Dragon program is under increased scrutiny.
A week ago, the Navy ordered a new round of inspections to find and replace chafing fuel lines and wires in every Sea Dragon and CH-53E Super Stallion, the Marine Corps variant.
The announcement came a day after a Virginian-Pilot story revealed internal concerns that bad wires and fuel lines hadn't been fixed after a deadly crash a year ago off the coast of Virginia.
Until the inspections and repairs are complete, the aircraft are allowed to fly, but with restrictions barring crews from transferring fuel in flight.
The helicopter that landed in Newport News on Thursday had not undergone the new inspection, Kafka said.
Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2015/02/navy-se ... ry-landing
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