Helicopter down - Wires?
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Helicopter down - Wires?
Australian Associated Press
TWO people remain trapped in a helicopter which crashed in eastern South Australia just before noon (CDT).
A third person walked from the aircraft, which was believed to have collided with powerlines about 12km outside Murray Bridge on Mannum Road.
An ambulance spokeswomen said one of the two people trapped in the helicopter was conscious with suspected chest injuries, while the other remained unconscious.
Three ambulance crews were at the scene and an emergency helicopter has been deployed.
TWO people remain trapped in a helicopter which crashed in eastern South Australia just before noon (CDT).
A third person walked from the aircraft, which was believed to have collided with powerlines about 12km outside Murray Bridge on Mannum Road.
An ambulance spokeswomen said one of the two people trapped in the helicopter was conscious with suspected chest injuries, while the other remained unconscious.
Three ambulance crews were at the scene and an emergency helicopter has been deployed.
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Contact within the the rescue organization also says that it is an Aeropower H500 that hit the wires. 3 POB, 1 critical cond, 1 serious but stable, and 1 serious. 2 were airlifted to Royal Adelaide Hospital. 1 attended to by ground ambulance.
Prayers go with the crew.
Prayers go with the crew.
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Helicopter crashes near Murray Bridge
MALCOLM SUTTON
19/11/2008 12:51:00 PM
A HELICOPTER carrying three males has crashed in a paddock outside of Murray Bridge.
The ETSA utility helicopter was running routine maintenance on power lines about 30 metres off the ground before one of the rotors clipped the wire, bringing the helicopter to a shuddering halt.
Eyewitness Shay Thomas Rampol saw it happen from the road.
"I saw a chopper doing maintenance on power lines and then a rotor blade hit one of the lines," she said.
"It flipped in front of me and hit the dust.
"The pilot scrambled out and started looking underneath for the others, but he kept falling down so he must have been in shock."
Hills Murray Local Service Area operations inspector Howard Davies said all three males suffered injuries in the crash, with one being airlifted to Flinders Medical Centre in a serious condition.
He was trapped in the helicopter for more than half an hour before being freed by the State Emergency Service.
MALCOLM SUTTON
19/11/2008 12:51:00 PM
A HELICOPTER carrying three males has crashed in a paddock outside of Murray Bridge.
The ETSA utility helicopter was running routine maintenance on power lines about 30 metres off the ground before one of the rotors clipped the wire, bringing the helicopter to a shuddering halt.
Eyewitness Shay Thomas Rampol saw it happen from the road.
"I saw a chopper doing maintenance on power lines and then a rotor blade hit one of the lines," she said.
"It flipped in front of me and hit the dust.
"The pilot scrambled out and started looking underneath for the others, but he kept falling down so he must have been in shock."
Hills Murray Local Service Area operations inspector Howard Davies said all three males suffered injuries in the crash, with one being airlifted to Flinders Medical Centre in a serious condition.
He was trapped in the helicopter for more than half an hour before being freed by the State Emergency Service.
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Wow Thats close to home...
Murry Bridge is only 1 hour away from me. I lived there at one time... Ive been trying to find out bout the Aeropower H500 for a while now
Ive seen it twice flying overhead while ive been working... But Last weekend i dropped into parafield airport and noticed the sign out the front of their hangar with their number
So ive tryed calling their office for the last 3 days... I wanted to see if they will take me and some mates for a flight in the 500
Creepy, I hope they will ok... The 500 fuselage seems to have held up well with the impact, very lucky there no fatalities.
All the best, Stay safe
Simon
Murry Bridge is only 1 hour away from me. I lived there at one time... Ive been trying to find out bout the Aeropower H500 for a while now
Ive seen it twice flying overhead while ive been working... But Last weekend i dropped into parafield airport and noticed the sign out the front of their hangar with their number
So ive tryed calling their office for the last 3 days... I wanted to see if they will take me and some mates for a flight in the 500
Creepy, I hope they will ok... The 500 fuselage seems to have held up well with the impact, very lucky there no fatalities.
All the best, Stay safe
Simon
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Fairfax News:
The man critically injured in last week’s helicopter crash has died at the Flinders Medical Centre. The 46-year-old man from Packenham in Victoria died on Friday morning, after suffering severe head and chest injuries.
Investigations into the accident are continuing, with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau trying to piece together the circumstances that lead to one of the helicopter’s rotor blades hitting high voltage wires and sending the aircraft plummeting.
The helicopter crew had been performing live line inspection work that involves holding an ‘ohm stick’ to the wires while flying in close proximity to cables.
Farm manager Geoff Pfeiffer saw the accident happen and rushed to the site to help.
“One guy was in a daze,” he said. “He had a mobile phone and had called 000 and gave it to me to speak to emergency services.
“I just wish I could have done something more.”
Electranet (which is responsible for all South Australia’s high-voltage transmission wires) executive manager of assets and operations Gavin Brennan said a suspension of helicopter live line work would remain in SA until they had “a clear indication on what the cause of this incident is”.
“There’s been none of these incidents before,” he said.
Mr Brennan said helicopter live line work was a specialist job, and had been performed world-wide for about 15 years.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash, and is expected to release an interim report in a month.
Investigations into the accident are continuing, with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau trying to piece together the circumstances that lead to one of the helicopter’s rotor blades hitting high voltage wires and sending the aircraft plummeting.
The helicopter crew had been performing live line inspection work that involves holding an ‘ohm stick’ to the wires while flying in close proximity to cables.
Farm manager Geoff Pfeiffer saw the accident happen and rushed to the site to help.
“One guy was in a daze,” he said. “He had a mobile phone and had called 000 and gave it to me to speak to emergency services.
“I just wish I could have done something more.”
Electranet (which is responsible for all South Australia’s high-voltage transmission wires) executive manager of assets and operations Gavin Brennan said a suspension of helicopter live line work would remain in SA until they had “a clear indication on what the cause of this incident is”.
“There’s been none of these incidents before,” he said.
Mr Brennan said helicopter live line work was a specialist job, and had been performed world-wide for about 15 years.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash, and is expected to release an interim report in a month.
