R44 Loses tail rotor.

[heliboy999]

Helicopter Makes Hard Landing At Tulsa International After Losing Tail Rotor - NewsOn6.com (http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=21014793&catId=112042)

Any more on this news story about a R44 losing the whole tail rotor assembly in flight?

http://kotv.images.worldnow.com/images/21014793_SA.jpg

SkyNews6 took flight Wednesday afternoon after we got word of a chopper down at Tulsa International Airport.
When we flew over, we spotted this helicopter.
Our pilot, Will Kavanagh, said it appeared the helicopter was missing its tail rotor.
There was no other obvious damage, but he could see skid marks on the concrete where the chopper spun around to a stop.
Will talked to the control tower, who told him the helicopter was in flight when the tail rotor came off.
People on the ground found the tail rotor in a parking lot nearby.
The helicopter was owned by Crumpton Aviation. The owner of the company said no one was injured and credited the pilot for being able to maneuver the aircraft to the ground, while avoiding any further damage or injuries.

HB999

[GoodGrief]

Give that man a cigar!

[topendtorque]

Give that man a cigar!

I'll second that.

[Thomas coupling]

Been teaching tail rotor mals all day! What a true professional bringing this back to earth intact. If ever there was a DFC in civvy street this guy deserves a dozen!

[newfieboy]

Add a bottle or two of single malt to the cigar......and as TC says, a civvie DFC or five.

[rjtjrt]

Presumably this is an example of the loss of tail rotor effect technique- a steep approach, short hover and just as it starts to rotate, a hovering engine failure/throttle chop cushion to the ground.
I fear I am explaining it poorly but it is a technique I was briefly shown in training and then it seemed to go out of favour.

[HeloDrvr]

Sure looks like the incident occurred in a hover. I not sure if that is implied when the owner describes the pilot as having "manuevered it to the ground."

Looking at the arc shaped scrapes on the asphalt, I think it went around a full rotation and a half.

If that was a touchdown from an autorotation entered at altitude, many praises, but then again, why the significant rotations upon touchdown.

If it happened in a hover, good job, but more a matter of being at the proper hover height and holding on.

[Soave_Pilot]

Add a bottle or two of single malt to the cigar..

Add a lapdance while hes at it...:}



Sure looks like the incident occurred in a hover. I not sure if that is implied when the owner describes the pilot as having "manuevered it to the ground."

Hmm.. I think if it happened at hover we would see debris of it nearby and a pretty damaged tail fin.

[HeloDrvr]

"Hmm.. I think if it happened at hover we would see debris of it nearby and a pretty damaged tail fin."

Well, that photo is not of high enough resolution to zoom in and determine any damage (of which there may be little), the T/R could be in the next time zone, and if any debris was around, it certainly would have been collected and removed from the scene, or it's sitting in the back seat.

With nobody lulling about in the pic, this didn't "just" happen.

[Aluminium Mallard]

Good job keeping that the correct way up!

I'd love to know where it let go... and some high res pictures of the gearbox area and what is left of the tail rotor.

[HeloDrvr]

The Feds say "shortly after liftoff," which i believe means while hovering (as opposed to shortly after departing).

Not sure how to post a link, so apologies for the need to cut & paste, if necessary.

http://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events01/media/02_276RC.txt

[topendtorque]

I'd love to know where it let go

and resultant C of G if someone gets a chance, cabin load etc. It may well have been a very lucky escape.

[Tony Mabelis]

Its not the first time this happened....................
In Bristows there was once an engineer (quote:- him with the close set eyes and receeding hairline) who's byeword was "No need to check that, I did that".
That was until the complete Tail Rotor assy of the Hiller took off across the airfield, all by itself! :O
The old, (really old) Bristow hands will know who I'm talking about!;)
Tony

[Thomas coupling]

I'd love to know where it came off too. Much of our teaching implies that (in this case) instantaneous removal of approx 7Kg of heavy metal departing the scene from a moment arm about 3m away from C of G would undeniably cause a complete loss of control in pitch by the pilot as the CofG swept rapidly fwd through its limits and the view altered 90 degrees downwards :eek::eek::eek:

It must have been in the hover surely?? If this was the case, can I take back half of the DFC's previously awarded?:oh:

[lelebebbel]

A few years ago, an experienced pilot in New Zealand was able to land his R44 after it lost its TR gearbox in flight due to FOD. See page 3 of this Robinson Newsletter:

http://www.robinsonheli.com/media/newsletters/2008_summer.pdf

[topendtorque]

DFC's previously awardedwe call 'em star and bar, usually prefixed by company name.

[FLY 7]

Is it possible the pilot was in the hover and clipped the fence with the tail rotor, shut the throttle and cushioned the landing?

[topendtorque]

Here you go Dave here (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-14/an-new-us-medal-for-drone-pilots2c-cyber-warriors/4518706) ,

Distinguished Warfare Medal, the perfect definition, I could think of a couple of 'cyber warrior' names right now if you like? But then i can be a proper cheeky sod at times too, like yer mate down the road.

Cheers tet.

[chopjock]

Tc
but what I will say is anyone who successfully lands a helo after a tail rotor Failure deserves atleast a Distinguished Warfare Medal

Why thank you. Where do I get one of those?

[Thomas coupling]

C'mon then chopjock - let's hear it.....................

[chopjock]

C'mon then chopjock - let's hear it.....................

I was grunting along at 1500 ft agl in my 280C, doing about 85 mph over hilly terrain on a windy day. Wind from the right. I heard a grumble from the back and felt a vibration in the pedals. and the nose yawed to the right, then the grumbling stopped and everything returned to normal. Must be turbulence I thought so continued on. Then it happened again, but more pronounced, so I thought this turbulence is getting worse, then a loud bang and a severe yaw to the right and a hell of a noise grinding away from the back. :eek:
So now out of trim and flying at 85mph. I reduced power, kept the speed up and looked for somewhere to put down. There were steep hills and trees all around, so decided to enter a shallow decent, maintaining speed and headed for a hill top in the distance where I could see an open field.
Getting closer I saw two fields, both sloping, one with cows in it and another with a flat area on top. I decided to enter auto rotation and gently wound the throttle back, feeling the response as I did it to make sure the engine was still there if I needed it. then turned into wind and did a perfect zero speed landing.(This is easy in an Enstrom).
On the ground I could feel a hell of a vibration and a loud grinding noise was coming from the back so I shut down right away without cooling the engine. When I got out I could see the tail rotor was not turning but the main rotor was.
I called my engineer and he came out the next day with a replacement tail gearbox and I flew it home.
Quite an experience I thought.

[Thomas coupling]

Excellent Chopjock, give yourself a DWM and go to the front of the class.
I particularly liked the no frills recovery service. The beauty of DiY repairs like this is the lack of demand for paperwork or any reporting procedures. One can simply carry on with ones life and look back on it as a minor glitch in ones life.
Bravo.:ok:

[topendtorque]

Gees chopjock, you could have embellished it a bit, you don't mean to say that you didn't have to spend the night in the nearest farmers barn with the um atttrac--- etc.
tet

[rumline]

Awesome bit of skill there...Well Done.

Little chicken-wire, some duct tape and and bobby-pins...she'll be ready to go!

[Senior Pilot]

Pilot, ground crewman blamed for Tulsa helicopter mishap (http://www.newson6.com/story/24230959/pilot-ground-crewman-blamed-for-tulsa-helicopter-mishap?fb_action_ids=10152073707279614&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_ref=.UrChijRT9Cc.like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B650884588287912%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.recommends%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%22.UrChijRT9Cc.like%22)

Pilot, Ground Crewman Blamed For Tulsa Helicopter Mishap

Posted: Dec 17, 2013 3:22 AM EST
Updated: Dec 17, 2013 3:52 AM EST
Richard Clark, NewsOn6.com - email

TULSA, Oklahoma - The National Transportation Safety Board blames the pilot and a ground crewman for the crash landing of a small helicopter at Tulsa International Airport in February.
Osage SkyNews 6 pilot Will Kavanagh spotted the damaged Robinson R-44 helicopter from the air on February 6, 2013.

He could tell the chopper was missing its tail rotor and could see that the aircraft had spun around several times on the ground.

In the NTSB's Probable Cause Report on the incident, it blames the accident on the "line technician's failure to remove the refuelling mat from the helicopter fuselage following service, which resulted in the mat striking the tail rotor, and the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection."
The refueling mat is a roughly two-foot by one-foot rubber mat which is placed around the fuel filler tube to prevent damage to the helicopter's paint by the fuel nozzle.

In his Factual Report released in September, NTSB investigator Michael Folkerts wrote that the pilot was leaving TIA at about 5 p.m. to fly down to Jones Riverside. When the helicopter reached about 150 feet in altitude, the mat struck the tail rotor and knocked it off.

The pilot told the NTSB he felt the helicopter buck and start to turn to the right, so he immediately cut fuel to the engine and began an autorotation, a maneuver helicopter pilots use to land if they lose engine power or the tail rotor.

The pilot, who is rated as a commercial helicopter and instructor pilot with 1,255 hours of total flight time, landed safely and no one was hurt.

Witnesses found the mat and the tail rotor blades nearby.

Photos provided by the NTSB show the mat was almost ripped into two pieces.

The helicopter, which is owned by Crumpton Aviation, sustained some damage in the landing.

http://kotv.images.worldnow.com/images/24230959_BG3.jpg

[topendtorque]

walll, I'll be damned.

A friend of mine once was ferrying a G2 along at 5,000', with heaps of fuel in jerries on the litters. Silly bugger miscalculated the actual in tank fuel, all the way to the ground it was running through his brain, how will I explain this if I stuff up the auto, he didn't.

Something as stupidly unnecessary as those blessed fuel mats should be thrown in the trash can, so's the idiot factor is limited.

[John Eacott]

"JET" it says, loud and clear on the fuel mat.

Too subtle?

[Carps]

Black machine, black refuelling mat...

[Freewheel]

Has he turned in those medals?

I think he can probably keep the lap dance.:cool:

[Boudreaux Bob]

Post Fueling Preflight....check Fuel Cap. Duh!

[Peter-RB]

Professional means that everything SHOULD be perfect before start up, what part of professional does this guy understand or operate under..?

Peter R-B
Lancashire

[Dennis Kenyon]

Be interested to know what sort of yaw angles and associated speeds were experienced in the straight & level portion of the recovery? Plus the weight of the Enstrom at the time and the maximum power that could be used without losing directional control? DRK

[diginagain]

Such mats were brought into use very briefly on one AAC squadron to counter the skin-damage being caused to Gazelles by the refuellers letting-go of the filler cap, rather than placing the cap on an adjacent step. The practice of using the mats was quickly rescinded when, during night-flying, a mat couldn't be accounted-for. It was subsequently found lying on the dispersal near the tankers. One side of the black rubber mat had orange markings, the other didn't - you can guess which way it was found.

A solution was found for the swinging filler-cap - repositioning and shortening the securing wire so it would only reach the footstep or the nozzle aperture.

[PerAsperaAdAstra]

Oh dear, the "quick" pre flight strikes again!? As a helicopter is basically a ball of force vectors pulling in opposite directions, pre flights are pretty important....Practiced TRF's in the 206 the other day, amazing the effect rolling off the throttle has. Of course my biggest fear of a tail rotor/gearbox letting go, is if it is bad enough to cause the T/R gearbox to depart...that happens and the CofG shift totally ruins your day. :sad: