Border agents tried to cover up a 2021 helicopter crash that put a public safety at 'substantial risk' by allowing dangerous craft and inexperienced pilots take to the sky, whistleblower claims

Senior Border Patrol officials covered up a near-fatal helicopter crash and were allowed to retire early rather than face the rap for repeatedly placing the public at serious risk, a whistleblower has claimed.

Two Customs and Border Protection agents had a miraculous escape in 2021 when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames during a training exercise outside Oklahoma City.

An internal investigation found the trainee was just the first of many routinely allowed to fly without enough cock-pit experience, and that most of the fleet does not have crash-proof fuel tanks.

Whistleblower Joseph Adams claims that CBP boss Robert Blanchard ordered him to cut the findings from the official crash report because they were a 'legal liability.'

Adams said, according to the New York Post, the agency runs an 'under wraps' flight school allowing trainees to 'pad their logbooks', and that his job was threatened for warning about the 'substantial and specific danger to public safety.'

'This leads to minimally skilled aviators being selected for very difficult pilot assignments,' said Adams, who retired from the CBP after 15 years .

First responders found little but ashes and the two shocked airmen by the time they arrived at the scene of the Oklahoma helicopter crash on May 12, 2021.

'It's not something we see every day and we're just thankful that they're ok,' said Benny Fulkerson of the Yukon Fire Department.

An internal aircraft mishap report found the pilot in training was the 'primary causal factor' and had not accumulated enough flight hours before being allowed to operate the helicopter.

Adams said the crash was just the first of half a dozen mishaps caused by poor safety standards.

He alerted the Office of Special Counsel about his concerns and it ordered the CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate, he claimed.

That office confirmed Blanchard had 'improperly attempted to remove critical information' from the official report 'because of the potential for a negative public response and increased legal liability'.

It also found he tried to hide the fact that 81 of the agency's 97 light helicopters operate without crash-resistant fuel tanks, according to the Post report. 

The Office of Professional Responsibility found the CBP was allowed to have the more dangerous tanks because the law does not require crash resistance on aircraft designed before 1994.

The CPB originally said it planned to retrofit new fuel tanks, but in September Acting Commissioner Troy Miller confirmed that: 'CBP has determined not to retrofit the current fleet.'

He said the agency planned to 'retire and replace the fleet lacking crash worthy fuel tanks,' and also said that Blanchard was due to retire by the end of that month.

Adams  warned the White House in July that other CBP officials aware of the reasons for the crash had been allowed to quietly retire before any disciplinary action was taken, according to a letter seen by the Post.

The Office of Special Counsel is separately investigating the allegations Blanchard threatened to fire Adams, a 15-year veteran of the agency, over his concerns.

The CPB must respond this week and give a full account of the affair.

'We takes our obligations to investigate all allegations seriously and have an established process to investigate whistleblower matters,' a CPB spokesman said.

'CBP's Air and Marine Operations remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of training and proficiency for our pilots.

'AMO operates and maintains all of their light enforcement helicopters in accordance with manufacturers' standards and Federal Aviation Regulations.'