EC-120 crash near Murmansk, Russia

[twistair]

EUROCOPTER EC-120B reg.RA-04049 (ex Nordic Rotors - SE-JNG (http://www.nordicrotors.com/SE-JNG) ) crashed near Murmansk today during take-off killimg three, two of them reported to be UK residents visited Russia for fishing tourism.

[nomorehelosforme]

21 July 2013 Last updated at 13:08 Share this pageEmailPrint
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British nationals feared dead in Russia helicopter crash

The Foreign Office says it is investigating reports that two British nationals were among three people killed in a helicopter crash in Russia.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry confirmed the crash happened on Sunday and three people had died, but did not give details about their nationalities.

The Foreign Office said it was in touch with local authorities and was ready to provide assistance.

Local media say the crash happened near Murmansk in Russia's far north.

[toptobottom]

A bit more here (http://rt.com/news/helicopter-crash-murmansk-russia-377/)

[Tinribs]

Anyone know about a helicopter crash on the Kola. Rumours of a fatal.

I was in a similar event some years ago, nasty, and I have a mate up there now

[Thomas coupling]

The 120 dropped them off and immediately after disembarking them lifted to depart and rolled over onto its side -wiping the three external pax out! Pilot survived.:eek:

[nomorehelosforme]

What could cause a roll over on departure?

[Anthony Supplebottom]

Dynamic.

Especially if he snagged something on lift off - although the Colibri skid arrangement is less susceptible to that sort of thing compared say to the Squirrel.

[nomorehelosforme]

Probably after a good landing a snagging would be the least of anyone's concerns!

[Anthony Supplebottom]

We are stabbing in the dark because we have no facts nor even a single photo.

If they offloaded gear and some of it remained close to the pad or landing area then there is always the risk of something fouling the undercarriage on lift-off.

[nomorehelosforme]

That is so true, and the thought of it sends shivers down my spine having been a pax with luggage getting unloaded in many locations!

[msmfi]

http://www.altair.com.pl/files/news/photos/10/10990/ec120murmansk.jpg

...
After landing and planting passengers pilot tried to take off, but a strong crosswind caused the lost control of the machine. Falling helicopter mortally wounded passengers. Pilot was also killed.
...

Disaster EC120 in Murmansk - Altair Aviation Agency (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=pl&tl=en&u=http://www.altair.com.pl/news/view%3Fnews_id%3D10990&usg=ALkJrhiga-KXDfX1SdtDEMGMz7RYOoh-nA)

Regards,
Mirek

[twistair]

That's not correct, Mirek (vitam!),

Third victim was not pilot but Russian guide for UK guests. Pilot got some injuries but not critical.

[msmfi]

Hi Alosha!

Any URLs in Russian language there ?

Regards,
Mirek

[Heli-News]

Photos of RA-04049:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sJ2a6AIpNA4/UezbKpvnXRI/AAAAAAAAMCg/BeUDcNMaU0k/w600-h450-no/01.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8xzFQXZHWZk/UezbKtyLlxI/AAAAAAAAMCQ/dz1DDTqhyHM/w600-h450-no/02.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-SCyzdF6_cnk/UezbKjQ2RmI/AAAAAAAAMCY/ZT_tEQXLTXs/w600-h400-no/03.jpg

http://static.themoscowtimes.com/upload/iblock/b1d/NeQFtJrNBF-800x600-1.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AoSFz-K-zAM/UezbLb0qDrI/AAAAAAAAMCk/oCqgpcy5wr4/w600-h450-no/04.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/22/article-0-1AEF22FF000005DC-483_634x438.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/22/article-2373197-1AEF22EB000005DC-234_634x474.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/22/article-2373197-1AEF22EF000005DC-340_634x475.jpg

http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article8726181.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/helicoptercrash1.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/9340987439_da33ac8c6b_b.jpg

One of the British passenger killed was Rupert Beaumont a partner in the law firm Slaughter and May.


Friends today paid tribute to a former City lawyer killed in a helicopter accident on a fishing trip in Siberia.

Retired solicitor Rupert Beaumont, 69, and a friend were killed instantly when the chartered helicopter tilted on to its side after landing, hitting them with its rotor blades.

The Eurocopter E120B is believed to have lurched as one of its wheels sank into water-logged earth. Pictures emerged today showing the helicopter with its rotor blades snapped off.

Mr Beaumont and his friend are thought to have paid about £4,000 for the holiday. Their Russian interpreter, Alexander Tushnikov, 53, a specialist in fishing trips, was also killed.

Pilot Alexander Shabalin, who has 25 years’ experience, survived the accident on the Kola Peninsula yesterday morning and made a distress call.


Tributes for retired City lawyer killed in helicopter tragedy on fishing trip - London - News - London Evening Standard (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tributes-for-retired-city-lawyer-killed-in-helicopter-tragedy-on-fishing-trip-8726132.html)

[twistair]

Ðîñàâèàöèÿ: Íà Êîëüñêîì ïîëóîñòðîâå óïàë âåðòîëåò, ïîãèáëè 3 ÷åëîâåêà. - Íîâîñòè äíÿ - PîñÁèçíåñÊîíñàëòèíã (http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20130721120208.shtml)

crash site:
https://plus.google.com/photos/103768437430570250925/albums/5903334185126653921?banner=pwa&authkey=CLGUqbPVlafNmQE

[John R81]

So dynamic rollover following stuck skid. :sad:

[FLY 7]

....which caught out a pilot "with 25 years experience" :hmm:

[jayteeto]

Lots reporting a wheel got stuck in ground :ugh:

[Heli-News]

Russian police have launched a criminal investigation after two British anglers were killed by a helicopter’s rotor blades during a luxury salmon fishing tour north of the Arctic Circle.

Last night the helicopter pilot was being questioned by detectives amid claims he initially misled police about the events surrounding the crash.

The probe is understood to be looking into whether human error was to blame for the tragedy, rather than initial suggestions of adverse weather conditions.

Pilot of crashed Russian helicopter that killed two British salmon fishers is held for 'lying to police' (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2374380/Pilot-crashed-Russian-helicopter-killed-British-salmon-fishers-held-lying-police.html)

[212man]

I assume that the victims were already outside the aircraft and were hit by flying debris? The cabin area doesn't look badly damaged (or, 'disrupted' as the AAIB would say)!

[Anthony Supplebottom]

I assume that the victims were already outside the aircraft and were hit by flying debris?

Accurate details of what occurred seem to evade this tragedy. The only person who actually knows what happened is the driver who's testimony, we are being told, is unreliable.

If the Daily Mirror is to be believed the victims were "hacked to death by blades of helicopter" but, that's the Mirror.

There is a tendency in many of the northern territories - Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia - to request pax to crouch down next to the helicopter after disembarking and remain so until the heli leaves.

If they were not under the disk then I imagine they were fairly close to it and which seems a shame give the vast expanse available to them.

[nigelh]

I have fished and flown on the Kola since 1990 and have fished the Kharlovka and Rynda many times . Just as you do in heliskiing , you all crouch down right next to the skids . In dynamic roll over I don't think the blades would hit you but the cabin would roll onto you . If you lifted with one skid stuck you could easily bank over to a level where the blades could hit the ground or a higher rock .
We used an Mi8 and Mi4 which worked very well . Very rugged and with big tyres dealt with the ground well . At a later stage a squirrel was brought in just for moving up and down the river but didn't cope as well . Very sad as I think this is the first fatality from a helicopter on the rivers in 25 years . The Russian helicopters and pilots have always been first rate out there in my opinion .

[Overdrive]

I wonder at this accident. Is there any need for pax to be close to the bird after disembarking? What's with this crouching business, what's the rush? Is crouching used for live drops? Unless the landing has been particularly tight to a small plateau and the pax would take a long time to clear, what prevents the take-off from being delayed 'til they walk away to the upwind rear of the aircraft?

[newfieboy]

Overdrive
Come fly in the bush a la fires , drills, etc. standard procedure mate. Spent the last couple weeks hover exiting fire fighters in Canada. Safest place considering terrain. Time is of the essence when dropping Initial attack crews. Most our ops are confined, swamp, toe in etc, no luxury of airport landings.

[Overdrive]

I don't doubt it where it's operationally necessary or normalized, but for tourist pax on a fishing trip? It's a large open space there. That ground is virtually flat though the surface is varied and uneven. Maybe he chose a live drop to avoid sticking etc. Just seems an unlikely scenario for an accident to occur in that way. Perhaps there's more to it.

[Thomas coupling]

It does seem strange that the pax weren't briefed to exit the disc before the cab lifted? Hogging the airframe while waiting for him to depart seems a little odd.
It appears on face value that his skid tip "may" have snagged smoething as he was lifting causing the cab to roll onto its side and the shrapnel took out everything within 10 metres.

Overdrive:

'til they walk away to the upwind rear of the aircraft

you mean downwind don't you.....

[FLY 7]

Why walk to the rear, even with a fenestron?

[John R81]

Only if it is the safest option - is it perhaps the only downhill option hence any other direction takes them towards the disc? Clearly adding to safety concerns once pax walk out of sight of the Pilot so agree that it would take 'unusual circumstances' to make it the best option.

[MightyGem]

Having unsupervised pax crouch down next to the aircraft, in those situations, is probably going to be safer than having them walk out from under the disc, with rucksacks, fishing rods, skies etc, over rough ground with limited blade clearance.

[Overdrive]

you mean downwind don't you.....


Yes! Well spotted.

[Overdrive]

Why walk to the rear, even with a fenestron?


Not right next to the thing; to the rear away from the take-off path, ie, out the way.

[nigelh]

It is the way it's done and has been done for ever .... And very safely !!!!
Just like heli skiing these guys have a lot of kit that can blow up into the blades or , like fishing rods , be inadvertently lifted . ( the first time I got out of a Mi4 onto a rock in the river , the tip of the rod was cut off by the blade and we had to splice a new ring onto the end ... Luckily it was a cane rod so not too difficult ). A number of the sites also have big rocks that people may try to climb over ... Trust me , crouching next to the skids is the safest way . Sadly just not this time .

[Thomas coupling]

Hopefully it was quick and painless.

I presume the only reason this got headline news was because it was an European helicopter involved in a stoof?

[212man]

I presume the only reason this got headline news was because it was an European helicopter involved in a stoof?

More likely because two of the victims were UK nationals

[Heli-News]

More likely because two of the victims were UK nationals.

Correct.

However, apart from the British lawyer Rupert Beaumont and the British art dealer Mark Robertson, one Russian, a tour guide, also died, Alexander Tushnikov - but many reports around the world only recorded that two people died because of the priority put on reporting the two British nationals.

The son of a former legal tycoon killed in a helicopter crash on a fishing trip in Russia watched in horror from another aircraft as the tragedy unfolded, it was claimed today.

James Beaumont looked on as his father Rupert was sliced to death by the helicopter’s rotor blades when the chartered helicopter lurched on its side after landing.

Son of British solicitor killed in Russia watched in horror as helicopter crashed - World - News - London Evening Standard (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/son-of-british-solicitor-killed-in-russia-watched-in-horror-as-helicopter-crashed-8727783.html)

[AnFI]

Maybe the pax stumbled and fell onto the skid - perhaps they were worried and pushed the helicopter away by pushing on the skid - maybe there rucksack got caughtand they grabbed it - maybe they left something in the helicopter and thought they'd stop it taking off by holding onto the skid - maybe they accidentally stood on the skid - who will figure that out with certainty?

You can't blame the pilot since he is just doing what some pros here think is a standard practice - even if it is screwed up the pilot is doing it in good faith.

There is no point in destroying the pilot - he probably didn't want to hack his clients to death - he presumably knows enough about the type of terrain to operate with the appropriate caution - and he'll try harder not to let it happen again (if he has the stomach for it).

[Thomas coupling]

What??.........................

[Anthony Supplebottom]

What??..

My thoughts too. Perhaps something has been "lost in translation"!

[Old Age Pilot]

What??.........................

Err yeah.. My thoughts too

[nigelh]

The practice , as you put it , is not screwed up !! It is a standard way of disembarking pax with kit , or in uneven terrain , and will continue to be so for years to come .
I don't see grabbing the skids or a rucksack causing this accident ..an EC 120 could quite easily take off with the weight of a passenger on the skids I would have thought . I also think that any helicopter accident involving the death of two of our nationals would always make headlines ....and quite rightly .

[toptobottom]

Uh oh. AnFI theorising again :8

[AnFI]

but don't shoot the pilot was the main point

[rotorspeed]

There's been a lot of chat about where the pax were as the pilot dropped them off rotors running, but surprisingly it seems no-one has questioned why the aircraft wasn't shut down and pax got out and away safely before restart. Surely this would have been the safest procedure and avoided any risk of this accident happening. The time and cost of doing so would have been very modest given a presumably significant trip length, rather than short multi leg shuttle.

[nigelh]

That will never happen . These flights are often very short hops with other fishermen waiting to be moved . I have personally never seen a shut down for a drop off in 25 years !!! Also some of the drop offs require to be just light on skids . I don't think we need to try to reinvent the wheel when there is a system that has worked fine for decades .... This was a tragic accident but I certainly feel that the operation out there is very safe and very professional and does not require any change .

[chutedragger]

Blade strike incident...

The guys that have the most to say about having the pax walk away from the machine....seem to have the least experience, in the said practice!

Blade accidents are far more common than a machine roll over! This guy was familiar with the operation, and was told not to walk out front of the machine!

So....I agree (after hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of drops), in the bush, keep em next to the machine!

Link :

Accident In Saskatchewan? - Page 2 - General Helicopter Operations - Vertical Online Forums (http://forums.verticalmag.com/index.php?showtopic=21813&page=2#entry146760)

[Ian Corrigible]

Russia helicopter crash 'quite extraordinary' (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-29629498)
The inquest in Basingstoke heard accident investigator Paul Hannant's verdict was that the helicopter had made an "extremely hard landing."

As a result, a bracket securing the landing gear sheared off, causing the helicopter to topple over. Its rotors caused Mark Robertson and Rupert Beaumont "catastrophic head injuries".

Coroner Andrew Bradley said there were problems with the case because the only witness to the crash was the 60-year-old Russian helicopter pilot, who told investigators it had been a "smooth landing."

The dead men's families raised concerns that the helicopter was being operated under a private rather than commercial licence.

The coroner said: "There seems to be some vested interest to get in and get out as quickly as possible. That might cause one to push the boundaries."
I/C