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| Date: | Thursday 5 January 1956 |
| Time: | 15:55 |
| Type: | Piasecki YH-16A-PH Transporter |
| Owner/operator: | Piasecki Aircraft Corporation |
| Registration: | 50-1270 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mattson Farm on Oldman’s Creek Road, near Swedesboro, New Jersey -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | |
The prototype Piasecki Helicopter Company YH-16A-PH Transporter twin-turboshaft, tandem-rotor helicopter, serial number 50-1270, was returning to Philadelphia from a test flight, when, at approximately 3:55 p.m., the aft rotor desynchronized, collided with the forward rotor and the aircraft broke up in flight. It crashed at the Mattson Farm on Oldman’s Creek Road, near Swedesboro, New Jersey, and was completely destroyed. Test pilots Harold W. Peterson and George Callahan were killed. It was determined that a bearing associated with an internal coaxial shaft supporting test data equipment had seized, causing the rotor shaft to fail.
At the time, the YH-16 was the largest helicopter in the world. After the accident, the H-16 project was cancelled.
Sources:
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/piasecki-yh-16-transporter/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Jun-2025 13:06 | FlyWolf | Added |
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