The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Feb 3, 2014 5:00 PM

Editor's note: This article has been updated to delete an inaccurate reference to a Pinal County Sheriff's Office policy and correct how the office procured two helicopters. One of the helicopters was donated from military surplus. Also the county supervisors approved the purchase of the first helicopter by 2-1 vote.

A shop rag left inside an engine during maintenance caused a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office helicopter to crash near Casa Grande in June and nearly kill all three personnel on board, National Transportation Safety Board investigators reported.

That revelation to county supervisors at a hearing this month and new claims by a former department pilot alleging several safety concerns have fueled questions among some supervisors about the aviation unit.

Mechanic Edward Muszala’s mistake caused the helicopter’s engine to cut out in midflight, destroying the $1.1 million aircraft June 25, the NTSB said. Muszala was put on two days of unpaid leave, sheriff’s spokesman Tim Gaffney said. County supervisors were satisfied with that sanction.

The Sheriff’s Office is trying to replace the destroyed craft with $750,000 in insurance payments.

Supervisors asked but were told they cannot use the insurance proceeds for any other purpose.

The Sheriff’s Office is hoping to replace Raven 1 with either a less expensive craft or supplement the purchase with non-county funds and possibly reclaiming scrap value from the crashed aircraft, the department told the supervisors.

A replacement craft would be used for pursuit, drug interdiction and search-and-rescue missions, Chief Deputy Steve Henry reported to the board of five supervisors earlier this month. The county’s other helicopter, Raven 3, is grounded for maintenance and doesn’t have the capabilities of Raven 1.

Henry also briefed the supervisors on the accident.

“The person who made that mistake has to live with that mistake the rest of their lives, and, trust me, it has weighed heavy on them,” Henry said. “Not only did his life flash before him, so did his friends’ and comrades’. It could have been a black hole in the ground.”

Henry and others praised the pilot and aviation division commander, Lt. Scott Elliott, for his skill in getting the crippled helicopter down safely.

Board Chairman Anthony Smith said he was satisfied with the explanation.

“I’ve received assurances from Steve Henry that they’d taken extra steps to improve procedures, processes and training,” Smith said.

“But this is still a rag in the engine intake. You just have to shake your head. I don’t see anything here beyond a human mistake.”

But former Pinal County deputy and air division pilot Andrew Wikstrom came forward to discuss concerns he said he has had about the safety of the operation. In an interview with The Arizona Republic, he alleged:

That he raised concerns about routine safety inspections but that nothing was done. The Republic made a public-records request for all maintenance records from the department but has not received them.

That another deputy transferred from the aviation unit because of safety concerns.

That there was unreported damage to critical parts in Raven 1’s tail several months before the crash. The crew flew for about 10 minutes with the damage, which caused such violent shaking that it tore up the tail section and prompted extensive repairs.

That within days of acquiring a single-propeller airplane in 2011, three metal sheets sheathing the fuselage nearly fell off during a training flight. Wikstrom said he “inspected the hell out of that plane every time I flew it” afterward.

That there was another unreported incident in which a helicopter co-pilot got his vest caught on a second control stick. For a moment, Elliott lost control of the craft, but he fought to regain it. Afterward, he ordered the second control removed, even though it is routinely installed as a safety precaution.

Weeks after Wikstrom said he reported his concerns, he was dismissed on unrelated allegations that he is contesting.

Department spokesman Gaffney rebutted each of Wikstrom’s allegations, calling them “obviously inaccurate.”

Gaffney said that Wikstrom never lodged any safety complaints and that the other deputy transferred because of a schedule overload.

Gaffney did acknowledge the damage to the skin of the helicopter’s tail, but he said the pilot landed within four minutes at the nearest airport.

He likewise acknowledged the incident with the tangled stick, but he said that there was never any loss of control and that the pilot established new safety procedures for when a non-pilot sits in the second seat.

Gaffney also confirmed the incident involving loose metal sheets in the department’s airplane, but he said the fault lay with the vendor.

“Other than the hard landing (the June crash), we have not had any other major safety issues,” Gaffney said.

He said all the Pinal County employees declined to comment.

Supervisor Pete Rios said a well-informed source other than Wikstrom told him of the incident involving the tangled helicopter controls.

“I’ve heard in the past that they’ve had problems with the helicopter,” Rios said, adding that he asked for information about the maintenance but never got it.

“I’m still personally not convinced they need a helicopter,” Rios said. “If we had an internal- audit department, I’d ask for an audit of the entire aviation division, but our audit department is in disarray.”

Raven 1 was bought using state grants and money from seizures, and Raven 3 was acquired from military surplus.

Supervisors do not know how much or little the Sheriff’s Office spends on helicopter upkeep, because much of the work is paid for by money seized in criminal-racketeering probes. The aviation unit employees are on the county payroll.

“They don’t have enough funds to maintain the helicopter, so they rely on RICO money, donations or grants,” Wikstrom said.

“That means they are always waiting for parts, waiting for money.” RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced, Corrupt Organizations.

Such accounts trouble Supervisor Steve Miller.

“There is a real pattern here,” Miller said of the Sheriff’s Office. “They get the toys, but they don’t know the real cost of the toys.

“I have a hard time justifying two helicopters. I don’t have a lot of confidence, and they really need to look into their maintenance program.”

The Pinal County sheriff’s financial sheets, obtained under a public-records request, show that the aviation department spent just shy of $35,000 on fuel, maintenance and training in the last six months of 2013.

An additional $199,000 was spent on operations and maintenance from October 2011 to June 2012. Records were not provided by deadline for the one-year gap between July 2012 and 2013.

Pinal County’s main helicopter, Raven 1, flew only four hours in the 90 days before the crash, the NTSB report said.

Henry told supervisors that the second helicopter, Raven 3, which has fewer capabilities, was grounded in September and has not flown while the department waits for a replacement engine.

In 2013, the department used its helicopters less than it had forecast. County aircraft flew 298 hours, comprising 48 patrol missions, 21 search-and-rescue operations and seven publicity events, according to a department report.

“The helicopter is a force multiplier and has already proven valuable with the lives it has saved and the criminals it has helped put behind bars,” Gaffney said in a prepared statement.