Helicopter down in Liverpool

[Hudson Bay]

Reporting on the BBC that a Helicopter has crashed at Liverpool Airport.

The aircraft was being Operated by the Helicentre and is the second accident in 2 years for the company.

The Pilot was put in a neck brace and taken for medical treatment.

[chris-h]

I was at Liverpool today when the news came in, Hope he's ok

[Heliport]

From the Liverpool Echo
A man was taken to hospital suffering minor injuries after a light helicopter crash-landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The craft, a two-seater, was understood to be hovering above the ground at the western end of the airfield when it came down, an airport spokesman said.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were also called to the accident, which happened during a training exercise today.

The injured man was understood to have only minor injuries but was taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment as a precaution.

He is understood to have walked away from the scene of the crash.

An airport spokesman said: “The gentleman was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. The incident did not stop operations at the airport or delay flights.”

[787-1]

From the BBC:
A helicopter pilot suffered head injuries after crash landing during a training flight at Liverpool John Lennon airport.
A helicopter pilot suffered head injuries after crash landing during a training flight at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47901000/jpg/_47901347_liverpoolairport2.jpg

The light aircraft was hovering above the tarmac at the western edge of the airport when it came down on Saturday.
Emergency crews were sent to the scene but, despite his injuries, the pilot walked away from the aircraft, which suffered some minor damage.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has been informed.
The man had been piloting the two-seater aircraft on a training flight at about 1200 BST when he got into difficulties.

Investigation due
Eyewitness David Knowles told the BBC the pilot appeared to be practising hovering and landing from about 3m (9.8ft) off the ground.
He said there was a loud banging and whooping noise and then a crunch as the aircraft came down.
"You could hear the glugging of the aviation fuel pouring out and it quickly spread around the helicopter... we were concerned that it would explode with the pilot inside, said the 37-year-old, from Runcorn.
Mr Knowles, who had been walking around nearby Speke Hall with his family, said there was an agonising five-minute wait for fire crews after a witness dialled 999.

"About a minute before they did [arrive] the pilot came around got out and looked very dazed. He said he was OK but there was a lot of blood down the back of his head and back," he added.
Mr Knowles was among six bystanders about 150m (492ft) away from the crash behind a security fence.
"Nobody appeared to see how the pilot was injured. He was lucky he was only a couple of metres from the ground," he said.
An emergency response, including five fire engines and two ambulances, was carried out by the airport.
"The pilot walked away, but he sustained some head injuries and was taken by ambulance to hospital," an airport spokesman said.
His condition is not known.
The accident did not affect the airport and flights continued to operate as normal.
An investigation will be carried out into the crash.
BBC News - Pilot injured in Liverpool Airport helicopter crash (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8699189.stm)

Looks like a Schweizer-269c

[902Jon]

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8699189.stm"] BBC News Link

the pilot walked away from the aircraft, which suffered some minor damage.

Now that looks more than minor to me! Hope he is OK

[Gordy]

787-1

Looks like a Schweizer-269c

Not a C model, maybe an "A" or more likely a CB or CBi---look at the lower vertical stabilizer on the tail boom.

Ground resonance anyone....

[stringfellow]

any bright ideas what happened??? ground resonance perhaps??

[mickjoebill]

BBC News - Pilot injured in Liverpool Airport helicopter crash (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/8699189.stm)
Mr Knowles, who had been walking around nearby Speke Hall with his family, said there was an agonising five-minute wait for fire crews after a witness dialled 999.


5 minutes for a fire truck to appear airside?
Story also said that there was an emergency training exercise in operation, so was the (reported) delay in attending perhaps something to do with confusion with those conducting an exercise when a real emergency call was recieved?

Given that fuel was leaking and the pilot was initially unconcious this delay could have had serious consequences.

Mickjoebill

[WAIF-er]

mickjoebill,

the real reason for the delay was that aliens abducted the fire crews, took them away for 12 years and then brought them all back. there should have been no effect, however due to an anomaly in the alien crafts' space-time continuum neutralisation system, the fire men were put back 3 minutes later than expected.

If it had not been for this fault, the fire service would have made their targeted 2 minute response time and no-one would have had a seemingly agonising wait!


Or maybe im just talking a load of b*llocks.

Which means you and I actually have something in common.

"Speculative" comments like yours are the reason I stopped contributing anything positive to pprune. I havent made a single comment to any thread for quite a few years now, so congratulations for annoying me so much that you force me to vent my spleen! dont take it personally, because we have never met and you are probably a good bloke.

I just happen to be close to this one and so couldnt help responding.

(ps. dont believe everything you read in newspaper articles!) :ok:

(pps. when it comes to eye witness reports, dont trust the judgement of the general public out on family walks - really, did Mr Knowles have his bloody stopwatch out from the moment the heli had its accident? 5 minutes? How many people use 5 minutes as an answer to time based questions!
"how long till dinner is ready mum? 5 minutes."
"when will the bus be here? in 5 minutes.!
"go and make me a cup of tea darling! In 5 minutes.")

Rant over - i feel better now. thanks mate :)

[Redplexus]

not clear whether this was a student - sure enough, practising your IGE hover and probably engine fail procedure is all very worthy, but does anyone burn solo time during PPL training doing that?

maybe it was an instructor and the aircraft just went pop - it happens.
anyway, whoever it was, hope you're well mate, particularly if it was Gaz or Mr H from Helicentre - both splendid chaps

I finished off my PPL in that particular a/c, which now looks like it will need more than a bit of T-cut to get airworthy again. Rust in Peace Alpha-Whisky, permanently at Kilo.

[sammypilot]

Aviation Safety Network gives the reg. as G-CEAW, a Schweizer 269C-1.

[JTobias]

All

I'm reliably informed it was a qualified pilot on a SFH basis doing some hours building.

Joel :ok:

[tistisnot]

Don't leave it so long for your next post - here's hoping more can rattle the cage!

[Dantruck]

Nice one WAIF-er :D

Hope your buddy is OK.


Mick...you really did ask for that one. Give, as you did, and one must expect to 'recieve' (sic).
:rolleyes:


Dan