Very Lucky Helicopter Pilot

crookesa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6LJkjcMO_U

Link

foxtrot hotel

Dont forget your helmet kids! I dont care how silly you think you look, ALWAYS put on your helmet when operating a chopper (that goes to you rich boys flying your private robinsons aswell :eek:)

He was very lucky to survive this. Just goes to show what a shoulder harness and helmet can help avoid.

Thanks for posting

pclancy

You beat me to it crook, that was one bloody lucky pilot to walk away from that! Same goes for the ground crew and the public nearby.

RebelBOK

This happened 2 min down the road from where i`m staying in Auckland. This is footage from another angle http://www.3news.co.nz/Lucky-to-come-away-unscathed/tabid/367/articleID/233786/Default.aspx Scary stuff!

ArphaRima

I'm still trying to figure out what caused the catastrophic failure?

Tropheus

fluffer wrote: »

I'm still trying to figure out what caused the catastrophic failure?

Same here. Initially I thought it came into contact with something, but looking at the videos, it doesn't look like it

BostonB

On youtube it says rotor hit a cable but I couldn't see it.

Su Campu

pclancy wrote: »

You beat me to it crook, that was one bloody lucky pilot to walk away from that! Same goes for the ground crew and the public nearby.

And also one bloody STUPID pilot! Just like the one in Bettystown a few years back. An idiotic manouver to say the least.

shanew

I dont see any contact either ... first sign of trouble seems to be part of the boom breaking just behind the cockpit



S.

BostonB

I wonder was it overloaded/stressed and suffered a failure.

typera12

If you look closely at the footage you can see the cable he was using to lift the load snap under the chopper and rebound up into the main rotor blades pilot could do nothing once that happened.You can see it better in this footage here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10768105&gallery_id=122790

vintac34

Su Campu wrote: »

And also one bloody STUPID pilot! Just like the one in Bettystown a few years back. An idiotic manouver to say the least.

i find this statement rather strange especially coming from a moderator..

shanew

typera12 wrote: »

If you look closely at the footage you can see the cable he was using to lift the load snap under the chopper and rebound up into the main rotor blades pilot could do nothing once that happened.You can see it better in this footage here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10768105&gallery_id=122790

see what you mean now - I see the cable underneath jerking. Cant make out the actual hit yet..



S.

Run_to_da_hills

There was news clip mention of blue rope found in rotor pieces, that sounds about right.

bopsy1234

I'd say the other cameraman who was running to get a different shot is well peed off. Missed all the action.

Run_to_da_hills

Footage was definitally Roto shop.

Su Campu

vintac34 wrote: »

i find this statement rather strange especially coming from a moderator..

Why, is a moderator not allowed comment on something, like the rest of you are? I am a pilot, and if I risked the life of both myself and other innocent bystanders by carrying out a crazy manouver like either of those, I would expect to lose my license.

BostonB

Mods are people too? Shirley Knot.

damo86

typera12 wrote: »

If you look closely at the footage you can see the cable he was using to lift the load snap under the chopper and rebound up into the main rotor blades pilot could do nothing once that happened.You can see it better in this footage here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10768105&gallery_id=122790

On another note, the news woman narrating sounds irish!

David086

I think it hits a cable on the black beam, as when it hits it in the video below, the black beam shakes.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Lucky-to-come-away-unscathed/tabid/367/articleID/233786/Default.aspx

shanew

never noticed that beam shudder... on this version from about 3:31 you can see the rope/cable going from somewhere high up on the tower on the left towards the helicopter... It looks too short..and very close to the main rotor

http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-Auckland-chopper-crash---full-video/tabid/309/articleID/233804/Default.aspx


S.

Agent P

shanew wrote: »

never noticed that beam shudder... on this version from about 3:31 you can see the rope/cable going from somewhere high up on the tower on the left towards the helicopter... It looks too short..and very close to the main rotor

http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-Auckland-chopper-crash---full-video/tabid/309/articleID/233804/Default.aspx


S.

Looking at that video it looks like the cable that was coming from the helicopter was still attached to the tower and as the helicopter got lower it got caught in the main rotor.

foxtrot hotel

Su Campu wrote: »

Why, is a moderator not allowed comment on something, like the rest of you are? I am a pilot, and if I risked the life of both myself and other innocent bystanders by carrying out a crazy manouver like either of those, I would expect to lose my license.

To be fair, pilots do this kind of work (and even more dangerous work as you put it) every day of the year. Some one has to do it and everyone needs a way to put bread and butter on the table. In an ideal world, earth and everything on it would be wrapped in bubble wrap!

This is just a classic swiss cheese case. As long as there are humans, there will always be human error. Thank god, he walked away from it and that no body else was hurt.

One thing this video high-lights is if you can, avoid at all costs sitting in the back seats of the AS350 type if you value your knee's at all.

Su Campu

foxtrot hotel wrote: »

To be fair, pilots do this kind of work (and even more dangerous work as you put it) every day of the year. Some one has to do it and everyone needs a way to put bread and butter on the table. In an ideal world, earth and everything on it would be wrapped in bubble wrap!

This is just a classic swiss cheese case. As long as there are humans, there will always be human error. Thank god, he walked away from it and that no body else was hurt.

One thing this video high-lights is if you can, avoid at all costs sitting in the back seats of the AS350 type if you value your knee's at all.

I fully get your point, but come on - you have a cable dangling from your belly, you're hovering just a few metres above the ground. Would it not enter your head that, wait, this might not be safe?

Equally, you're trying to land a chopper in a used carpark that's nearly the same width as your main props....in the main street of a village.

Classic swiss cheese indeed, but the biggest hole seems to be the pilot (i.e. the big empty hole inside his skull where his brain used to be!).

It's not like these were cases of a pilot trying to land in a big open field with nobody around. Both were in tight built up areas, with several people within a dangerous radius.

ArphaRima

It's not like these were cases of a pilot trying to land in a big open field with nobody around. Both were in tight built up areas, with several people within a dangerous radius.

Yes but some people get paid big money to take such risks. I, on the other hand get paid big money not to.

TW Mr Tayto

foxtrot hotel wrote: »

Dont forget your helmet kids! I dont care how silly you think you look, ALWAYS put on your helmet when operating a chopper (that goes to you rich boys flying your private robinsons aswell :eek:)

Unless you only have 1... that couple of inches could be the difference between smacking off your passengers head or not (in a sudden stop)
Really speaking, just going from A to B you'd need them more in a plane, helicopters land with nearly no forward speed in the event of an engine failure.
You're right though, any sort of aerial work should really include a helmet!

BrianD

Su Campu wrote: »

And also one bloody STUPID pilot! Just like the one in Bettystown a few years back. An idiotic manouver to say the least.

Very odd given the Bettystown incident involved an unauthorised landing in an unsuitable location. The NZ case involved a pilot engaged in the construction of a structure (christmas tree). There was always going to be a risk when involved in lifting. There would have been a risk assessment.

argosy2006

rope or cable comes into shot at 0.10-.011 center of rotor,
look closely , then it fails. Hits that rope/cable. look at letters on top of cab, at 0.10-.011

Su Campu

argosy2006 wrote: »

rope or cable comes into shot at 0.10-.011 center of rotor,
look closely , then it fails. Hits that rope/cable. look at letters on top of cab, at 0.10-.011

You're dead right, it seems to be the actual cable/rope he had been lifting with. Again, did it not enter his head that the downwash might cause it to do that. A risk assessment would (or should) have identified this hazard, and one would think a corrective action would be...er...not to do it with the rope not securely held down.

cocoshovel

The pilot came so close to being absolutely obliterated by the rotors. Probably due to being strapped in. Also the guy on the ground is lucky he didnt get ripped in two by a cable strand.

Major luck in this :eek:

argosy2006

Three guys fell lol

Stovepipe

To their credit, they all immediately went to rescue the pilot, despite the risk from the still-running turbine engine and the potential for fire.

regards
Stovepipe

MyKeyG

vintac34 wrote: »

i find this statement rather strange especially coming from a moderator..

I find it extremely apt coming from anyone. It's clear there are lots of possible obstacles not just the one he made contact with.

Ridiculous thing to do.

MyKeyG

foxtrot hotel wrote: »

To be fair, pilots do this kind of work (and even more dangerous work as you put it) every day of the year. Some one has to do it and everyone needs a way to put bread and butter on the table. In an ideal world, earth and everything on it would be wrapped in bubble wrap!

Bread and butter is no excuse. Even in a non ideal world ends meet does not excuse risky manoeuvres such as this one. We all have a living to make but safety is safety.

The load should have been set down in a safe place and transported accordingly to the site. It seems like reckless corner cutting to me.

TW Mr Tayto

The wire snapping seems to have been out of the pilot's control. I don't know much about slinging/long lining, but I'd imagine the pilot has some sort of responsibility for ensuring the line is strong enough. That being said, whatever he was placing seems to have survived the journey there with that vey line.

If this had not happened, people could have been saying "great pilot, knew his limits and worked within them" but because something seemingly out of his control (the line snapping) he's a stupid pilot.

A bad pilot could have gotten himself into vortex on the decent, or clipped a pylon, or tried to come in and rush it to impress the ground crew.

Like I said, maybe there's some sort of "loadmaster" involved who should have attached a stronger line, but I find no fault with the pilots handling. Feel free to rip into me now, with my sub 100 hours :L

Palmy

I dont think its corner cutting paying $1800+hr to hire an AS350b.These kind of OPS are done everyday all over the world slinging concrete,erecting towers.Trust me if they could have used a crane to erect it they would have at amuch less the cost.Human factors come into play here..What if..

pclancy

I dont see this as any more risky then all the other work i see helicopter pilots do around NZ every day its much more common here then at home to use helicopters for lifting jobs. Risks were mitigated as much as possible with this kind of work but obviously there was a failure to spot the cable at the time. Whether it was the pilot or ground crew failure the CAA will tell us soon

MyKeyG

Palmy wrote: »

I dont think its corner cutting paying $1800+hr to hire an AS350b.These kind of OPS are done everyday all over the world slinging concrete,erecting towers.Trust me if they could have used a crane to erect it they would have at amuch less the cost.Human factors come into play here..What if..

Well take this situation for example. The man was required to bring the helicopter too low to deposit the load. Could there have been a longer cable? Or could they have hired a helicopter with a winch mechanism?

Just because they're already paying 1800 to hire the helicopter it doesn't mean they're not cost cutting.

argosy2006

Its funny how first thing to fall off was the door :P

Jim Martin

I'm not clear what happened here, did the helicopter run into the cable or was it definitely attached to it?