Helicopter crash in Derbyshire

[Whirlybird]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/6258491.stm

Anyone know any more? It's fairly close to where I live, so I'm wondering who it was.

[Bravo73]

There's a thread about it from last Saturday, Whirly.

R22 from Coventry (G-UNYT, I think). Both occupants got out okay.

[Whirlygig]

Both occupants got out okay.
That's the important bit; the rest is just bent metal.

Cheers

Whirls

[muffin]

There was an interview with the owner on the local East Mids TV news on Saturday evening. He said that he had only had the helo for a month and an instructor was taking a friend for a ride in it when the horn came on so they auto'ed down onto a rough surface and rolled over. Owner is in Clay Cross I think he said.

[ShyTorque]

Muffin, Well put. Just one comment - OOer missus! :p

[Whirlybird]

Saturday! And I got told about it by someone today, who said it had just happened. I'm obviously just confused. Oh well, no-one hurt, so that's OK.

[Bravo73]

And I got told about it by someone today, who said it had just happened.

Another R22 went down at Wolverhampton today :(. Solo student okay.

[muffin]

Shytorque

Having just re-read my post I now understand your comment.

[rotorspeed]

There is no question that, as others have said, the most important thing is that the occupants in both this and the Wolverhampton accident are not seriously injured or worse. However from some posts there seems to be a sense that providing there's no injury, it's "OK". Well it's not really is it? Firstly there's the cost of repairing/writing off presumably an R22 with the impact on someone's excess and ultimately many folks insurance premiums, and then there is the significant damage done to the safety reputation of helicopters, given the media coverage such incidents always get. There are of course further costs in many areas too.

I do understand the emphasis of comments but it is important that accidents are not trivialised if no-one is hurt. Apart from the above points, the margin between whether or not casualties occur is no doubt pretty small.

[rotorboater]

Very good point Rotorspeed about the insurance hike that will come from this "non training" accident in a private heli, I would have to pay a lot bigger premium to let someone train in my machine, hopefully this won't increase the premium this year.

[Whirlybird]

rotorspeed,

I don't think anyone on here goes out flying, thinking: Oh well, let's not worry or be careful; I can crash this helicopter if I feel like it, no worries so long as no-one is hurt. Which seems to be approximately what you're implying.

I - and I think others - when we say "that's OK" mean "Well, what a relief that I don't have to follow this up and find out if someone I know has been hurt or killed, as I was getting really worried and dreading hearing some awful news, and I really couldn't face finding out that I'd lost a friend or colleague".

I don't have that feeling about a helicopter being destroyed. I think people are more important. Somehow, on a helicopter site, I thought that was obvious. Perhaps not...and I'll remember to waste bandwidth writing the longer version in future.

[vertibird]

when i was a student with a few hours, my crazy instructor made me watch the robinson safety course video, which shows two (fatal) accidents in the UK. scared the crap out of me, and i was already a fixed wing pilot who has been around general aviation all my life and seen accidents plenty of times. instead of quitting, i promised myself i'd never fly in the UK. a later flight instructor of mine told me that that wasn't the solution; just never take off in a robinson if you see somebody filming you-you'll end up in the safety course presentation.

i'm now a flight instructor and i do not let my students see that video (what i jokingly refer to as "the faces of death" helicopter video) until late in their training to keep from scaring them off.

/tangent

[Bladecrack]

As long as nobody was hurt or killed, 2 less R22's in the world can't be a bad thing? :E

[Whirlygig]

Ooh steady on Bladecrack, my mate Thomas Coupling got into a lot of trouble for a similar comment.

Cheers

Whirls

[Whirlygig]

ho hum. not this again?! R22s are only rubbished by priviliged folk who didnt have to pay for their own training, or those that could afford to train on something bigger.
Not necessarily. I know pilots in the first category who think Robbies are great. I also know pilots who trained in the Robbie and, given a chance, would rather not return to them. Each to their own and there's no need to turn an accident thread into Robbie-bashing into a matter of whether you can afford to fly something else or not.

Cheers

Whirls

[rotorspeed]

Whirlybird

What you later say you meant by your first post comment of "Oh, well, no-one hurt, so that's OK", might have been better understood if, for example, you'd said "Oh well, no-one hurt, that's a relief."

Then wouldn't have chosen to get prickly and sarcastic.

[Bladecrack]

Whirls,
My comment was said tongue in cheek... :ouch: BTW, I fall into the second category you mentioned, trained on R22 & R44 over 10 years ago and paid for it all myself. After a couple of years flying mainly turbine, i'm now back flying them again, :{ and after recent problems with them (R44 we had, and a friends R44, both brand new!) i'm afraid i've lost all the respect for them I once had. I think the quality of the new Robinson product has got much worse. :hmm: I take your point that maybe this discussion wasn't meant for this thread... On a serious note, i'm relieved nobody was badly injured in the accidents described, as we have been having a rather bad run of them lately in the UK...:(
BC.

[Whirlybird]

What you later say you meant by your first post comment of "Oh, well, no-one hurt, so that's OK", might have been better understood if, for example, you'd said "Oh well, no-one hurt, that's a relief."

Point taken. :ok:

[dmouseair]

I attended the scene in the local blue and yellow EC135 (the one with the blue flashing light), and was very relieved to see the footprints from the aircraft to the nearest farm house........personally I would have gone to the pub! :D

Nice job, quite a sloping crop field, which was very muddy.......:ok: