Helicopter down in Sydney 1st March 08

[Jacques Stahl]

News on Sydney Morning Herald website:

http://news.smh.com.au/helicopter-with-five-onboard-crashes/20080301-1w2m.html

[John Eacott]

Channel Nine (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=386338&rss=yes) raw video footage and report.

Four people are in a serious condition with life threatening injuries, while another is listed as stable.

[Out-of-balance]

Boys day out. Very sad!

FOUR men critically injured in a helicopter crash in north west Sydney are being prepared to be airlifted to hospital.

Police said five people were aboard the aircraft when it crashed in dense scrub near Arcadia at 12.55pm (AEDT).
A fifth passenger is in a stable condition with minor injuries, a NSW Ambulance Service spokesman said.
Helicopters will transport the seriously injured, who are all aged in their thirties, to Westmead and Liverpool hospitals.
A man with spinal and back injuries will be taken to Liverpool hospital in a serious condition.
A second man will be taken to Westmead hospital with facial and pelvic injuries. He is in a serious condition.
A third man will be taken to Westmead hospital with shoulder injuries. He is in a serious condition.
A fourth man has been taken to Liverpool Hospital with spinal injuries. His condition is unknown.
"All patients are male and between 30-40 years,'' the spokesman said.
A fifth man, aged 36, is being taken by road ambulance to Westmead with multiple abrasions. His condition is stable.
Police said nearby residents on Cobah Road witnessed the crash and telephoned emergency services immediately.
Eight ambulances were deployed to the scene and the NSW Rural Fire Service and Fire Brigades NSW are in attendance.
NSW Fire Brigades said there was no fire, no spillage and no explosions.
The spokesman said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had been informed and an investigation would follow.
Helicopter company
The helicopter is believed to be a Jetranger based at Bankstown, a local helicopter pilot said.
The blue, white and yellow Jetranger had a call sign NBP and was used for charters and hired to private pilots, the Chief Pilot at Wieland Helicopter Company, who does not wish to be named, said.
A company which flies Jetrangers, Bankstown Helicopters, is expected to issue a statement later this afternoon.
A spokesman for Bill Miller, the director of Bankstown Helicopters, said he was unable to confirm whether the helicopter involved in today's crash belonged to his company.
"Sorry, it's no comment at the moment,'' the spokesman said.
"We've got nothing to say at the moment.
"We're still gathering information and we'll release it as we receive it.''
Bankstown Helicopters offers scenic flights, charter services and flight training.
An industry insider said the aviation industry was a tight-knit community which would be deeply affected by the incident.
"I'm sure everybody is saddened by the news,'' the spokesman said.
"There are some families that are looking for answers today.''

[heli-cal]

It appears that the marketing department of the Sydney Morning Herald want to cash in on this sad accident.

They're running a box advertisement adjacent to the story with the title:

Fear of Flying!

[IHL]

What type of helicopter?

[The Nr Fairy]

VH-NBP comes back as a JetRanger, so the original article seems to be correct.

[Freewheel]

The aircraft was NBP - I've been told the tail has been shown on TV.

I'm also told that the local media are beating it up, though that's a bit easier when headsets, a complete main rotor assembly and various bits and pieces can be found hanging in nearby trees. Apparently part of the floor including pedals is some distance from the fuselage and the skids are, as a unit, some distance from the remaining fuselage, which sits on it's side open like a tin or sardines.

I can't view clips from where I am, but I'm sure there's a link on one of the TV station websites.

Apparently the occupants are now stable.


I'm rather impressed by the maturity shown so far on this topic - 2 days and nobody's slagged anybody off, long may it continue!

[Diatryma]

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5917023,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915460,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915461,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915464,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915466,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915468,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915469,00.jpg

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5915472,00.jpg

Di :(

[helicfii]

If I read the story correctly, it stated that a man left the helicopter BEFORE IT LANDED, and that he was on the driveway, not moving. Can this be true? Maybe they got it wrong. Hope everyone makes it.

[McGowan]

Media speculation.
If you can't get a comment, make one up.

[jetflite]

I'm amazed anyone survived looking at that wreckage.......

[206Fan]

Yea they were dam lucky looking at those photos, must of came down very hard!

[Bushfire]

Video footage of the accident was shown last night on Today Tonight.

[Gas Producer]

Anyone able to post the video here?

[McGowan]

Footage was taken by the wife of one of the passengers.
Certainly didn't shine a good light on the pilot....................

[rotaryman]

From the footage shown on Today Tonight, it looked like the pilot of was all over the shop!!!

Have they determined a cause as yet?

Of course the Kestapo won't be interested, they way to busy sweating the small stuff.:mad:

[Auschick]

This really bothers me. It's bad enough that alot of the general public think helicopters just fall out of the sky and crash and burn...also alot of them are too scared to go up again after a bad flight experience -pulled a few rip-ass turns and scared them to death.
Some pilot goes out and destroys not only a machine, but all the hard work that 99% of pilots put in to flying safely and professionally.
There's been so many accidents where the wreckage has come out looking better then that of NBP, but with no survivors. I happened to be sitting in traffic looking at it on the back of a trailer last week...and it wasn't a very big trailer either. Makes me think of how some great pilots have died through no fault of their own, and then others just fly like a maniac, write off a machine and walk away.pfft. And I thought that 'licence in a Weet-Bix box' line was a joke...now I'm not so sure. I really hope CASA do something for once
Can't find that video anywhere though

[Trojan1981]

and then others just fly like a maniac, write off a machine and walk away

Is this what happened? Have the ATSB released anything yet?
I haven't seen any footage of the crash sequence but I would be very interested to see it. Two of my work colleagues were on that helo and have sustained severe injuries.

[Diatryma]

Footage on Youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhIz7k6A3p8

Di :\

(edited to add: this is not footage of the incident, but the aftermath)

[Gas Producer]

Does anyone have some footage that was shown in Sydney on Today Tonight about a week or so ago that actually shows the crash sequence? The video was taken by one of the folks on the ground at the time. I haven't been able to find it anywhere on the net.

Many thanks.

[Diatryma]

Yes I have it as an MPEG file - but I'm not sure how to post it. I think perhaps it's too large?

Perhaps someone can help with the technical aspects????

Di :\

[Tickle]

If you are using Windows XP, try going to Accessories > Windows Movie Maker and import the MPEG file into there, then drag it into the storyboard area, then click Tasks and "Save to my computer" and play with the bitrates and values until it's a good balance between resulting size and quality.

[John Eacott]

Diatryma,

How big is the file? If you want to send it to me, I can host it for you.

PM me and I'll see what can be done :ok:

[Diatryma]

Chopper joyride pilot blamed for crash.......Sydney Morning Herald article October 3, 2008 - .....The pilot of a helicopter which crashed in northern Sydney earlier this year, seriously injuring four passengers, has had his licence suspended.An investigation revealed he was flying lower than his licence permitted and the craft breached weight restrictions.The Bell 206 JetRanger was being used for a 30th birthday party joyride when it crashed just before 1pm on March 1 in a backyard in Arcadia.An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation report released today 200801245 (http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2008/AAIR/aair200801245.aspx) , reveals that the pilot's decision to fly low over the residential area breached the restrictions of his private pilot's licence.The report notes witness statements that the craft was flying low over the trees and that the helicopter was being operated at a height from which recovery was not possibleIt also reveals that the weight of the helicopter when it took off from Bankstown airport was 57 kilograms over the maximum take-off weight for its type, a clear breach of Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has advised that the pilots licence has been suspended after the accident pending a review by the authoritythe report states. In testimony to the investigation, the pilot told investigators there was silence in the helicopter after he made a steep banking turn to the left.The craft crashed into the backyard of a family home, narrowly missing two teenage girls sitting in their loungeroom..............Di

[gulliBell]

Extract from accident report:

"When the helicopter executed the steeply banked turn to the left at low forward airspeed, the inertia in the main rotor blades and main rotor RPM would have decreased, resulting in less main rotor efficiency..."

Anyone who is more aerodynamics savvy than me care to comment on the veracity of this, viz, steep turns result in RPM decrease, resulting in less efficiency??

[nathan_m]

wouldn't rpm increase because of disc loading and total rotor thrust decrease because of the increase in coning angle? :ooh:

[Brian Abraham]

"When the helicopter executed the steeply banked turn to the left at low forward airspeed, the inertia in the main rotor blades and main rotor RPM would have decreased, resulting in less main rotor efficiency..."Think you may have to be gullible gulliBell to swallow that one in my opinion. Ask yourself "does the rotor droop when in a turn, no matter how steep?". Question 2. Under what conditions of powered flight does the rotor droop? Simple question me thinks. Governors in the main do a bloody good job and quickly regain any transient droop from a sudden application of power, providing you don't top out of course. Inertia in the main blades???? Can see where they may have come up with this argument, but the effect would be minimal and theoretically getting some what esoteric (fuselage begins turning in the same direction as rotor rotation so the rotor has to speed up in effect to maintain the same RPM with respect to its point of reference, the fuselage)

[CYHeli]

Although the author hasn't used the word, is this overpitching?

Although in a turn, heavy aircraft, the aircraft has slowed and pilot has tried to accelerate, is it possible that he has overpitched and this has lead to rotor droop with the resultant bits that the author has then described?

[Gas Producer]

The pilot made some stupid f$@&*%g choices and got an outcome consistent with the choices made.

The author of the report didn't say that in so many words either.

GP