Originally Posted by
John Eacott
The comments about the stability of the Bambi following a drop are, of course, quite correct. It may be worth noting that the lines we used back in the 90s were steel and very heavy, which influenced not only the flight characteristics but also the length of the line. 30ft (we weren't much into metrics) was about the limit of steel cable that could be handled by a pilot, especially when we started adding not just the household cable to run power to the solenoid but also a hose for the feed from the Sacksafoam! With the introduction of kevlar lines this restriction disappeared overnight and 100ft became the norm of what could be handled by one man.
Interesting Discussion. I don't do bucket work, but I did a similar risk assessment for powerline work years back and did a study on this very hazard. at the time I found 12 such incidents in the US alone between 1983 and 2007 where a longline or load on a longline (or directly on the belly hook) contacted the tail rotor. Two of the 12 resulted in fatalities.
Below are the accident report #s
ATL83LA294 SEA87LA092 ANC92FA040 LAX94LA241 SEA98LA017 ANC98LA003 SEA00LA028 DEN01LA145 DEN03LA041 LAX03LA160 LAX04LA116 SEA07CA200