Helicopter down in Antarctica: Dec 2013

[Squeaks]

Australian chopper crashes in Antarctica with three onboard (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-02/australian-chopper-crashes-in-anatarctica-with-three-onboard2c/5128724)

Three people have been injured after an Australian helicopter crash landed in Antarctica about 150 nautical miles from Davis Station.

The Squirrel helicopter made an emergency landing about 3:00am (AEDT).

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash which left one person has back injuries and the other two with minor injuries.

The safety bureau's Julian Walsh says a rescue and salvage mission is underway.

"We'll obviously obtain maintenance documentation in relation to the helicopter and information about the weather conditions and those types of things," he said.

"But until we know a little but more about the actual circumstances of the accident, it's a little bit difficult to actually determine the more detailed lines of inquiry that our investigation is likely to take."

The helicopter was one of two returning to the station after surveying a penguin colony at Amery ice shelf.

The second helicopter landed near the crash site and its crew is looking after the injured people until medical support arrives.

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) says the group has adequate survival equipment and a tent has been set up to keep the injured warm.

Communication is being maintained with Davis Station.

The chopper is operated Helicopter Resources and is chartered by the AAD

[Nigel Osborn]

Just heard that a helicopter has come down in Antarctica with unknown injuries to the pilot & 2 passengers. The second helicopter landed to assist which is why they fly in pairs. They hope to get a Twin Otter in to pick them up. No idea who or why they came down but it's good their injuries appear slight.

[PO dust devil]

I recall an operational plan to have two helo not more than 50 nm apart. Is that something gone by the way now or was it in company?

Just concerned is all.

DD

[MiKeRoToR]

I hope that injured are well!
Does anybody know which company is involved?? is the ADD the same as PHi?
I heard that they have there one AS350 and one B212…

Thanks

[Nigel Osborn]

The company is Helicopter Resources & we used to virtually fly in sight of each other & always in radio contact. I expect that is still the case.

[Rotor Work]

ABC Update
Hope that the crew have a quick recovery
Fly Safe
R W

The Australian Antarctic Division is racing against time to rescue three people injured in a helicopter crash on the frozen continent.
The chopper's pilot and two Antarctic Division employees were in the aircraft when it came down about 150 nautical miles from Davis Station, breaking into several pieces.
They are being helped by two people in another helicopter that was travelling in tandem.
The crew were returning to Davis station after surveying a penguin colony when the Squirrel helicopter crashed at 3:00am (AEDT).
Rescuers are hopeful that a break in the weather will help efforts to reach the injured crew.
The Australian Antarctic Division's Tony Fleming says rescuers are trying to reach the injured before conditions change.
The helicopter itself is a write-off.
"It's disabled, and it's not recoverable," Mr Fleming said.
"We are focussing on the recovery operation. The second helicopter is fine and a couple of the injured employees are taking shelter in that second helicopter."

[switch_on_lofty]

Could someone tell me why they wouldn't just get in the second Squirrel and fly back to the base? Surely packing 6 in for 1:30 is worth the risk compared to staying out on the ice with injured people?
Thanks

[Rotor Work]

Switch on Lofty
I had read that the second Squirrel required more fuel & the weather had deteriated.

From Canberra Times

Australian Antarctic crash victims rescued from remote ice shelf (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/australian-antarctic-crash-victims-rescued-from-remote-ice-shelf-20131203-2ymoo.html)

Three Australian Antarctic expeditioners injured in a helicopter crash have been evacuated from a remote ice shelf in a successful rescue mission.
The victims were conscious and stable, and undergoing medical assessment at Australia's Davis station far south-west of Perth, the director of the Antarctic Division, Tony Fleming, said on Tuesday.
"It's a great result," Dr Fleming said. "We took advantage of a small weather window and its succeeded."
The three were injured when their Eurocopter Squirrel crashed on the Amery Ice Shelf as they returned from surveying a penguin colony late on Sunday. A second helicopter flying with them landed, and rendered first aid while the rescue was mounted.
<iframe id="dcAd-1-4" src="http://ad-apac.doubleclick.net/N6411/adi/onl.ct.environ/environ;cat=environ;ctype=article;pos=3;sz=300x250;tile=4;or d=110513.0?" width='300' height='250' scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"> </iframe>
Crevassing prevented a fixed wing aircraft Twin Otter carrying a medical crew from landing on the ice shelf near the crash site, Dr Fleming said.
But a reconnaissance plane located a clear site on Sansom Island, about 90 kilometres away, and the second helicopter ferried the injured there before all returned to Davis, another 220km away, late on Monday night.
The names of the injured have not been released, and a decision is yet to be made on whether they will be evacuated from Antarctica.
The crashed helicopter is not recoverable, according to Dr Fleming.
"It's in a few pieces," he said.

[switch_on_lofty]

Rotor Work,

Thanks for that, good that the people are in a safe place (well as safe as Antarctica can be I suppose). Looks like the rescue was a good rapid planning task.

[PO dust devil]

Speedy recovery to all!

[industry insider]

The crashed helicopter is not recoverable, according to Dr Fleming.
"It's in a few pieces," he said.


When a PHI Bell 212 crashed near Lake Fryxell in 2003, every last rivet of the wreck had to be recovered at great effort and expense to ensure no fuel and oil contamination. I hope this time its the same. Helicopter companies should not be allowed to leave their wrecks in such a pristine area.

Dr Fleming needs to exert some authority.

[CYHeli]

There are a number of ways of deciphering what Dr Fleming says, one meets your request. He might simply be saying that it won't return to flying, which is generally what recovered means.
Removal is another issue, and I agree with you that it should be.
Glad the crew are okay, or at least well enough not needed to be evacuated immediately.

[compressor stall]

Nothing should be left in a pristine environment, but clearly none of you have been to the edge of the Amery Ice Shelf where this occurred. It is a crisscrossed crevasse ridden hellhole, swept by catabatic winds.

The risks of retrieval are likely to be too high, and in any case the location of the wreck would have minimal environmental impact as it is already well offshore and will be an iceberg in the next couple of decades.

[Arm out the window]

Anyone know, or able to say, what happened to cause the accident?

[PO dust devil]

you only have to look around the Chinese and Russian bases and airfields to know the "leave it pristine" idea is crap.

There are oil drums, dead helicopters/aeroplanes and stuff all over the place.

Let alone around Mactown.

With a little tongue in cheek here, but I wonder if it would be in better hands if an oil company was looking after it under obligated environmental conditions than leaving it for scientists, whose mothers cannot get there to clean up after them.

;-)

DD

[ChrisJ800]

Looks like the met will be good tomorrow for the long medevac from/back to Hobart. I hope it all goes well.

Authorities wait for right conditions to fly injured Antarctic expeditioners home - Yahoo!7 (http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/20155827/authorities-wait-for-right-conditions-to-fly-injured-antarctic-expeditioners-home/)

Authorities are planning to fly three injured expeditioners back to Hobart after a helicopter crash in Antarctica.

Doctors are continuing to monitor the condition of three Australians who were in a helicopter which crashed during an Antarctic research trip early on Monday morning.

After a challenging rescue, the pilot and two Australian Antarctic Division employees are now at Davis Station in a serious condition.

The Antarctic Division says one of the expeditioners is now able to walk.

The other two have upper body injuries, but are conscious and able to eat and drink.

Specialists from the Royal Hobart Hospital are providing advice using advanced telecommunications.

All three will be flown to Hobart once they are medically cleared and the weather permits.

[Rotor Work]

Back in Hobart
Trio injured in Antarctic helicopter crash return to Hobart - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-06/trio-injured-in-antarctic-helicopter-crash-return-to-hobart/5139398?section=tas)

Three Australians injured when their helicopter crashed in Antarctica last Sunday have been flown to Hobart overnight.

The helicopter crashed near Davis Station last Sunday when it was returning from a penguin surveying journey.

The Australian Antarctic Division has been waiting for favourable weather to fly the injured back.

The nature of the injuries has not been disclosed but are described as serious.

The helicopter broke into three pieces on impact.

The Australian Transport Bureau is investigating the crash.

[SilsoeSid]

Fantastic news, here's to a speedy recovery :ok:

[ChrisJ800]

Hope we get good news soon as upper body crush injuries can be serious.

[Rotor Work]

Investigation: AO-2013-216 - Collision with terrain involving Aerospatiale Squirrel helicopter, AS350B, VH-HRQ, 260 km from Davis Base, Australian Antarctic Territory on 1 December 2013 (http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2013/aair/ao-2013-216.aspx)

Collision with terrain involving Aerospatiale Squirrel helicopter, AS350B, VH-HRQ, 260 km from Davis Base, Australian Antarctic Territory on 1 December 2013

Preliminary Report

[Rotor Work]

Latest update says wreckage will be removed:)


Australians injured in Antarctic helicopter crash expected to make full recovery - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-06/trio-injured-in-antarctic-helicopter-crash-return-to-hobart/5139398)

Three Australians injured when their helicopter crashed in Antarctica are expected to make a full recovery.

The three Australians are back in Hobart after an overnight flight and are in hospital in a stable condition.

The pilot and two Antarctic Division employees were injured when their helicopter crashed returning from a penguin survey last Sunday.

The helicopter broke up on impact in the heavily-crevassed area. It was one of two Squirrel helicopters transporting scientists involved in a penguin survey at the Amery ice shelf.

The second helicopter was able to land nearby and help the injured who endured temperatures of around minus 6 degrees Celsius for about 20 hours until they were able to be taken to the Davis research station.

While at the station they were sedated and assessed as being in a serious condition.

The division's medical officer Dr Jeff Ayton says their condition has improved; one expeditioner can walk, while the other two have upper body injuries.

They could be discharged within days.

Dr Jeff Ayton says doctors more than 5,000 kilometres away were able to help monitor and review the injured via the internet.

"We used some very innovative telemedicine techniques, it's a first for the Australian Antarctic program," he said.

"We were using real time patient monitoring back here at Kingston to allow adequate rest for the lone isolated doctor who was managing the patients at Davis."

AAD director Tony Fleming says the complex operation to bring them back to Hobart involved three aircraft and was only able to be completed during a break in the weather.

Dr Tony Fleming has seen an image of the crash site.

"The helicopter is beyond repair, it is in a few pieces," he said.

Program manager Rob Bryson says Australia might need help to recover the wreckage.

"There's a variety of different ways including going out to other nations to assist us".

The Australian Transport Bureau is investigating the crash.

[switch_on_lofty]

From Derring-do and good fortune save Antarctic trio (http://www.smh.com.au/environment/derringdo-and-good-fortune-save-antarctic-trio-20131206-2yus9.html)

http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/06/4988197/art729-helicopter-620x349.jpg

Survivors of an Australian Antarctic helicopter crash owe their lives to two companions, and their rescue to an extraordinary chain of well-managed luck.
The injured three arrived in Hobart on Friday, 101 hours after their helicopter crashed and a white-out enveloped them on a remote ice shelf.
Good fortune sped them to safety, including availability of other aircraft, weather breaks, and on-site expertise exemplified by former Victorian police superintendent Bill De Bruyn.
Mr De Bruyn, a search and rescue specialist, was leader at Davis station last Sunday night when a radio call came.
''The communication was very scratchy,'' he said. ''We played it back a couple of times and picked up the fact that we might have a helicopter incident … There was a white-out, heli down and injured persons.''
The call came from a second Squirrel helicopter flying in tandem that landed beside the broken-up aircraft. But communications with it from Davis, about 280 kilometres away, were difficult.
Fortunately, two aircraft from the polar air company Kenn Borek were at Davis on charter.
''We were absolutely blessed to have the Twin Otter and Basler, the two Canadian crews,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
The Twin Otter launched with a medical team and made radio communication with the crash site. But Mr De Bruyn said they were not able to land because of crevasses. ''The pilots actually saw open slots, so it wasn't a difficult decision,'' he said. ''Then the opportunity to look for another landing site disappeared because the weather came in.''
The task of extracting the unconscious trio from the wreckage - with back, chest and other injuries, and making them safe and warm, fell to the second pilot and a field training officer.
Again, Mr De Bruyn said, the right person stepped up. The officer is a wilderness first aid instructor. ''I think the three people currently in Hobart hospital probably owe their lives to those two individuals,'' he said.
Mounting the rescue and evacuation proved a logistical nightmare. The Basler spent nine hours aloft giving weather information so the Twin Otter could rendezvous with the second helicopter at a landing strip 90 kilometres from the crash site.
''This is where the rescue gets quite incredible,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
''The helicopter still had limited visibility and horizon. We used the Basler as a lead … because under the circumstances the helicopter would have been at risk on its own.''
The two aircraft shuttled back and forth to the Twin Otter twice, then all three headed for Davis.
''If we hadn't got to the site as we did, we probably wouldn't have got there for another couple of days,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
Station doctor Judy Braga, from Gippsland, stabilised the three and they were transferred 1400 kilometres to the ice runway near Casey station. The Antarctic Division's Airbus A319 then flew them to Hobart.
Among them was the scientist whose survey of a remote emperor penguin colony was the reason for the helicopter trip.
''She said there were about 5000, in very good condition,'' Mr De Bruyn said. ''So she was excited about that. Unfortunately, she wasn't too excited about coming back the way it happened.''

[rjtjrt]

From just looking at the Cospas-Sarsat site, it seems to me there is virtually no 406 coverage in Antarctica.
I wonder what they use in Antarctica re SAR instead of carried beacons - possibly the old radio scheduled position reports and a filed flight plan?

[ChrisJ800]

HF and VHF radio and SOP is to have a standby aircraft within (I think) 50nm of your aircraft, which is the case with this accident and why they got rescued so quickly as it wouldnt take long for frostbite and hypothermia to take effect.

[RVDT]

Iridium tracker will work OK.

So long as the base has access to internet.

Many vendors and solutions out there.

[compressor stall]

Iridium works fine.

There's no such thing as a filed ATC flight plan for down low in that part of that part of the world.

There are comms operators who are holding SAR at whatever predetermined intervals are decided. There's also a met forecaster and/or observer on duty during flying ops keeping an eye on things. They are all on first name terms living together with the aircrew. The oversight and planning is excellent, everyone knows what's to be achieved and how it's being done.

[TWT]

Report out:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5302747/ao-2013-216_final.pdf