Two People Slightly Injured When R22 Went Down, Mechanic Says He Is To Blame

The mechanic who worked on a Robinson R22 which went down in Honolulu, HI, May 8th says he is to blame for missing an incorrectly installed mixture cable which may have caused the accident. Brant Swigart said he saw the broken cable as the aircraft sat in a hangar after the accident.

The two people on board, the pilot and a photographer, were only slightly injured in the accident, but Swigart told the Honolulu Star Advertiser "in my mind they're both dead, and I can't get it out of my mind." He said a backup spring also failed.

Swigart led a team that conducted an overhaul of the R22, and he personally conducted the test flight before the helo left the shop. But while Swigart did not actually rig the cable which broke, he still takes responsibility for the accident. “The guy who actually put it together is inexperienced,” Swigart said. “I’m not laying blame on him. I missed it.”

While Swigart has come forward to take the blame for the accident, he has not yet been interviewed by the NTSB, which has not yet released a preliminary report for the accident. Board spokesman Keith Holloway said that Swigart may be interviewed as the investigation continues.

Swigart doesn't see accepting responsibility as being particularly noble, though he says he's heard that from may people. He said he is concerned about what might have been. The aircraft impacted a car when it came down, and there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the area where the accident occurred. "I have to wonder what everybody would be saying if there were a bunch of dead people," he commented to the paper.

(R22 pictured in file photo. Not accident aircraft)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov