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Sikorskyfan
5th Aug 2009, 19:37
Helicopter crash kills 2 near Quebec town hit by tornado
CTV cameraman Hugh Haugland was 1 of the victims
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 | 3:24 PM ET
CBC News

Two people were killed Wednesday when a helicopter crashed near the scene of the tornado that hit Mont-Laurier, Que., on Tuesday.

One of the victims is Hugh Haugland, 44, a cameraman for CTV National News, and the son of former CTV Montreal anchor Bill Haugland.

The pilot, Roger Belanger, was the other victim. He was a resident of Mont Laurier, and is described by friends as an experienced pilot who had logged more than 10,000 hours in the air.

Haugland was gathering aerial footage of tornado damage to the town, which is 180 kilometres north of Ottawa.

The helicopter went down around 10 a.m. ET near Highway 117, just outside the town.

A witness to the crash, André Marcoux, said he believes the helicopter's engine failed.

He said he was backing into his driveway when he heard strange engine sounds from above.

Marcoux said the helicopter swooped by his house before hitting a hydro pole and dropping to the ground next to the highway.

He said he saw a body lying a few feet from the aircraft and ran to try to help, but

JimBall
6th Aug 2009, 08:11
2 adults and tv camera gear - in an Enstrom ?

Latest : Helicopter crashes (http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/helicopter-crashes/#clip200648)

ara01jbb
6th Aug 2009, 08:23
Definitely a 2-seater, didn't see if it was an R22. There was a brief glimpse of the chopper during the extended report on the accident in the 6pm CTV Montréal news: Haugland had posed for photographs before take-off, sporting a cast on his broken wrist following a recent cycling (?) accident. There was also an interview with a cameraman for the French language network TVA who had swapped slots with Haugland.

Video: CTV Montreal | CTV News, Shows and Sports - Canadian Television (http://montreal.ctv.ca/)

Edit: a lot of the Montréal media has naturally focussed on the Haugland family rather than the Belangers; Hugh is survived by his father, the former CTV anchor Bill Haughland, his wife and two teenage daughters. Belanger didn't appear to have any children, but is survived by his girlfriend who was mentioned as being at the airport shortly after the crash, along with his long time 'flying partner'.

alouette
6th Aug 2009, 11:04
The skids of this helicopter do not look like the ones of a Robinson by having had a look at the picture. However, there is not much left of the aircraft:uhoh: ...one of those days:sad:

Senior Pilot
6th Aug 2009, 11:18
Maybe we can leave the pointless discussion about the helicopter type, which was correctly identified as an Enstrom by JimBall?

http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20090805/450_hugh_chopper_two.jpg

ara01jbb
6th Aug 2009, 15:23
To clariry, at the time of my first post, I thought that JimBall had referred to it as an R22. As I've come to expect, none of the media reports I saw identified the type of a/c.

A tragic accident, especially as the conditions were fine and the media crew who had charted the chopper were reporting on a tornado that had destroyed a lot of homes but not caused a single fatality. The TVA camera man who was interviewed referred to some difficulties starting the engine prior to take off.

HeliPilot1
6th Aug 2009, 15:54
Sounds like an engine failure followed by an autoration. He unfortunately struck a hydro poll before touchdown. The article below sheds some light on this unfortunate accidient.

--

Les Perreaux and Tu Thanh Ha
Montreal — From Thursday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009 11:07PM EDT

He rushed to New York after 9/11 and to Dawson College when a crazed gunman shot his way into the Montreal school.
Again this week, he was dispatched to the scene of a disaster, covering the aftermath of a twister that hit a small town in Quebec's cottage country.
But on a sunny morning, after the tornado was long gone, it was on a routine assignment that CTV cameraman Hugh Haugland died.
Mr. Haugland and pilot Roger Bélanger were flying over Mont-Laurier, Que., yesterday when their helicopter crashed and burned, killing them both.
With more than 10,000 hours at the controls, Mr. Bélanger, 64, was giving aerial tours of the extensive damage in town.
The aircraft went down under a clear sky a few hundred metres from the runway at the local airport. Witnesses reported hearing the engine backfire just before the crash.
The accident underscored the laborious efforts required to compile what would be just seconds of news footage.
A 44-year-old father of two, Mr. Haugland was remembered as a generous, self-taught, skillful cameraman.
He started in the business at the bottom of the ladder, as a stage hand, teaching himself technical skills and becoming a video editor, then operating a camera, said fellow cameraman Al Stephens.
In 24 years at CTV, Mr. Haugland recorded events from Quebec's turbulent political scene to riots during the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“Every day we are sending news teams with the best equipment available. We are flying in and hiking into avalanches, we're covering the seal hunt in the ocean off Labrador and we're covering the aftermath of tornados in the Laurentians,” said CTV News president Robert Hurst.
“This is our daily work. It is somewhat risky, but we try to mitigate the everyday risks the best we can.”
Mr. Haugland is the son of long-time CTV Montreal newscaster, Bill Haugland, who retired in 2006.
“Everybody's tearful and it's sort of like being hit with a club,” Bill Haugland said. “You can't think straight. Trying to connect the dots is very difficult.”
Hugh Haugland was known for fine camera work but was an even better friend, his colleagues said.
CTV reporter Tania Krywiak recently arrived at work to find a videotape with a smiley face drawn on it on her desk. She and Mr. Haugland had been on assignment interviewing Bob Thirsk and Julie Payette while the two astronauts were in space. After a long day's work, he stayed late to create a souvenir videotape for her.
“It's the kind of gesture you could count on from Hugh,” Ms. Krywiak said.
The space assignment also illustrated Mr. Haugland's determination. The avid sportsman shot the story with fractured ribs and a broken wrist he suffered earlier that week crashing his mountain bike on a trail. He didn't miss a day of work. He had a cast put on his arm during lunch hour.
“He was just tireless, and he always had time for everybody,” said Jed Kahane, who worked as a reporter alongside Mr. Haugland for eight years.
“In a business where people are always being accused of running roughshod over people to get a story, he was the example of how you don't do that, how you stop and take care of people.”
Mr. Bélanger, a flying enthusiast who owned a business in Mont-Laurier, had earlier taken cameraman Martin Leblanc from the Quebec media outlet TVA in his two-seat chopper for an uneventful flight. Mr. Bélanger said he was offering the rides because he loved to fly.
Mr. Haugland's job was to document calamity, but the pilot had also had an earlier brush with disaster.
In 2007, Mr. Bélanger was flying out of the airport in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., when the twin engines on his Piper Navajo began to sputter. He made a quick return to the airport and landed safely with smoke pouring out of the engines. It was later discovered a ground crew had gassed up the aircraft with the wrong type of fuel.
Mr. Bélanger was well-respected in aviation circles and in Mont-Laurier, where he had owned a machine shop since 1971.
Long-time employee Suzie Forget said “he was a bon vivant and he was always ready to help. I'm sure that's what he was doing this morning, just helping out the reporters who came here to tell our story.”
Mr. Haugland was on assignment with CTV reporter Geneviève Beauchemin. The helicopter was a two-seater so she remained behind, snapping photos of the flight just before takeoff.
“He boarded that helicopter with a pretty big smile,” said Mr. Kahane.“He was going to do what he loved to do.”
Mr. Haugland is survived by a common-law spouse, Francine Maillé, and two daughters, aged 19 and 14, from a previous marriage.
Mr. Bélanger was married with two adult sons.

Sikorskyfan
6th Aug 2009, 17:51
According to preliminary reports from local TV here in Montreal, the focus seems to be on engine failure at low level during approach to the airport. The aircraft was only a few hundred yards from the runway, and if it had not hit the power pole who knows?

mickjoebill
8th Aug 2009, 16:10
So close to making it home safe.


“Every day we are sending news teams with the best equipment available....” said CTV News president Robert Hurst. “This is our daily work. It is somewhat risky, but we try to mitigate the everyday risks the best we can.”


I wasn't going to comment on choice of a small helicopter for filming as it is not clear if it has any bearing on the accident, but the above comment by President of CTV, in response to the death of an employee, begs the question, was the aircraft chosen the "best equipment available"?

Were other helicopters which are better suited to filming available in the area?

As a side note.
The right hand seat location for the cameraman would have made it more difficult for him to operate because (if he was using his regular camera) the viewfinder is on the left side of the camera, so one has to twist around or lean forward to be able to put the camera on the right shoulder so it can clear the bulkhead.
This position makes it more uncomfortable or impossible to have a tight seatbelt.

There are ways to operate a hand held camera from the right hand side with a tight belt but these techniques (resting camera on ones knee) are generally not used by news crews reacting to a news story.

Also, in a very tight cockpit and adjacent the pilot, handling a pro size camera with the left wrist in plaster is not ideal, especially when trying to react in an emergency.

It adds up to a hard days work that ended in tragedy.


Mickjoebill

chopjock
8th Aug 2009, 18:03
As a side note.
The right hand seat location for the cameraman would have made it more difficult for him to operate because (if he was using his regular camera) the viewfinder is on the left side of the camera, so one has to twist around or lean forward to be able to put the camera on the right shoulder so it can clear the bulkhead.
This position makes it more uncomfortable or impossible to have a tight seatbelt.

There are ways to operate a hand held camera from the right hand side with a tight belt but these techniques (resting camera on ones knee) are generally not used by news crews reacting to a news story.

Also, in a very tight cockpit and adjacent the pilot, handling a pro size camera with the left wrist in plaster is not ideal, especially when trying to react in an emergency.
However on the plus side for shooting ENG from the right seat in an Enstrom, is you have more room in the front than a Jet Ranger or an R44, and the door is very large with plenty of room to shoot with a camera. The Enstrom is extremely easy to auto rotate and is a very safe aircraft. A shame about hitting an obstacle on the ground.:sad:

havick
9th Aug 2009, 02:47
All this talk about offering the best equipment for the job makes me cringe.

A jetranger with an STC'd sliding r/h rear door (cameramans harness with STC'd attach point) should be the minimum for that type of work (that's if they're serious about offering the best equipment). Ideally a Squirell.

If memory serves me correctly, I don't think the R44 (not sure about the Enstrom as I have never seen one up close) even has a hardpoint to attach an approved cameramans harness for filming, is there an STC'd mod for the R44 for an attach point?

mickjoebill
9th Aug 2009, 05:12
However on the plus side for shooting ENG from the right seat in an Enstrom, is you have more room in the front than a Jet Ranger or an R44, and the door is very large with plenty of room to shoot with a camera.

I would agree that the turbine powered Enstrom is acceptable, as I understand it the aircraft in the crash question was the smaller piston engine version with three abreast seating where the seats are close to the bulkhead.
The CTV video has some stills taken of the cameraman seated in the craft before the flight. He is a sizeable bloke. Try and imagine what seating position he would have to be in to shoot at 45º to 90º to the direction of flight with the camera on the right shoulder. The common method is to sit with ones hips positioned at approx 45º across the seat so the torso does not have to twist too much. This means there is considerable scope for slack in the seatbelt. In these circumstances an additional harness is prudent.

Sure there is plenty of leg and head room in the front but what would be more useful is greater clearance between the seat back and bulkhead to allow free movement of the rear overhang of a pro sized camera without having to lean forward. This is far less a problem if shooting out the left hand side.


It is a pity that all manufacturers of light helis do not offer an observer seat and anchorage system or accessories that are designed to accommodate those crew whose work involves facing 90º to direction of flight.

That the aircraft came to rest with cabin largely intact and resting on its left side and that the cameraman was sitting on the RHS but was ejected should raise the question of the level of increased survivability if the cameraman had the benefit of a helmet and a harness.

Partially disabled due to plaster cast over left wrist and hand, no helmet, no sign of a harness, no flight suit, no door, shooting wrong side from a small cabin so seat belt (probably) compromised.

If some or all of these factors are contributory to the level of injuries who is responsible and how do we improve safety of ad hoc aerial filming and photography assignments in the future?



Mickjoebill

havick
9th Aug 2009, 05:47
mickjoebill,

keep in mind that a harness does not offer much protection in a helicopter crash other than to provide enough slack for the aircraft to roll over and squash the cameraman.

The harness is simply their to ensure the cameraman doesn't fall from the aircraft, similarly to having the camera itself attached to the aircraft to a hardpoint via a rated strop to ensure it doesn't end up on someones dining table.

chopjock
9th Aug 2009, 09:48
If some or all of these factors are contributory to the level of injuries who is responsible and how do we improve safety of ad hoc aerial filming and photography assignments in the future?

Mickjoebill Surely that is already dealt with as being the responsibility of the commander of the aircraft? To ensure the aircraft is being flown within it's limitations and in a safe manner and that all passengers and equipment are safely secured. I think the last thing we need is a knee jerk reaction to regulate the percieved problem even more.:=
If this was an accident, how do you regulate that?

mickjoebill
10th Aug 2009, 14:51
keep in mind that a harness does not offer much protection in a helicopter crash other than to provide enough slack for the aircraft to roll over and squash the cameraman.

Sure if you install yourself sitting on the floor secured by a harness and with legs dangling out then the consequences in an accident are likely to be more serious than if you are sitting within the air frame.


During the BBC Jetranger crash in Ireland a few years back the cameraman was saved by a harness. He described being thrown around "like a rag doll".
The aircraft ended up on its belly with the skids some distance up the hill.
Had he been wearing a loose seatbelt rather than a harness he probably would have been ejected.



Surely that is already dealt with as being the responsibility of the commander of the aircraft? To ensure the aircraft is being flown within it's limitations and in a safe manner and that all passengers and equipment are safely secured.




I think the last thing we need is a knee jerk reaction to regulate the percieved problem even more.
If this was an accident, how do you regulate that?


For years more cameramen are killed whilst filming in helicopters than any other activity (apart from in war zones) so from my perspective it isn't a knee jerk reaction.

Most cameramen or photographers who are killed or injured in aircraft accidents do so with door off, no helmet flying in small light helis.




Mickjoebill

havick
11th Aug 2009, 05:46
mickjoebill,

I think you are reading me wrong.

I advocate the use of filming harnesses attached to a hardpoint, it is the only way to for the cameraman to be able to achieve true tracking shots and freedom of shots in all directions being able to lean outside the door whilst sitting on the floor.

I was simply pointing out that harnesses themselves do not offer much in the way of protection in a crash. That's why the cameraman should be seated in their seat with the seatbelt done up for all takeoffs and landings (a legal requirement here in Australia), and they they then slide the door open and move to the filming position whilst attached via the harness once airborne (and a proper door clearing check has been conducted).

If you are trying to film whilst seated and in the seatbelt as opposed to a harness, it is awkward and quite often does not achieve nearly the same results. Much like sling work the cameraman accepts the fact that he is more vulnerable in the even of a crash whilst filming and attached via the harness.

The way you (the pilot) operate the aircraft is the major player in significantly mitigating the risks to the cameraman.

mickjoebill
11th Aug 2009, 13:33
Havik,
yes I read you wrong, sorry.
Secure for take off and landing by being strapped into seat and then slide the door for shooting with harness is good practice.


Mickjoebill