Fire Fighting Helo Crash in NZ
 

An AS350 has crashed killing the pilot while fighting the fires on Christchurch's Port Hills.

Thoughts are with everyone there.


One person dead in helicopter crash during Port Hills fires | Stuff.co.nz

Rest in Peace Brother, another sad day for the Rotory World

It appears that the registration is shown in the news photograph. ZK-HKW.


Flight aware are reporting that registration also.


Pictured here in better days

So sad, RIP. ;-(

Helicopter pilot who died fighting Christchurch fires ex-SAS member David Steven Askin | Stuff.co.nz

Any facts out yet ??........hit wires ??. sad day, sad day.

Update on the accident - Port Hills helicopter crash caused by a cable striking the tail rotor

Strangely the local NZ CAA Vector "safety" magazine Jan/Feb issue carried an article about exactly this potential problem in the month prior to the accident.

Even worse - nowhere in the article does it say that the pictures in the article depict an incorrectly rigged/operated Bambi bucket!!! Who knew?

Vector Magazine Jan/Feb 2017 - Page 7 - External Loads – How Much Do You Really Know?

In the case of quite a few operators and the NZ CAA apparently - not enough?

From the Bambi Operators Manual -

If all else fails - RTFM. :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

From the report "It was attached to a strop of approximately six metres in length, making a total length for the underslung load of approximately 10 metres."

i.e. slightly longer than the distance between the cargo hook and the tail rotor, which that OM warning warns about.

Not knowing anything about the pilot at all here, I'm curious whether it was a case of pilot couldn't longline or client didn't want longlines on scene, but the operator/owner wanted the aircraft to stay out of the water spray (i.e. No belly hook) hence the short strop?

It's not the first time a bucket has ended up in a tail rotor by attaching it with a short strop rather than either direct belly hook or longline hence why the OEM manual requires at least a 50' strop or longer if not belly hooking directly to the hook.

Some clients require the load, i.e. water bucket in this case, to be attached directly to the cargo (belly) hook or a minimum length of longline must be used, e.g. 25 m.

Slightly!?? The distance between the hook and t/r tips is about 5 meter on the 350, and the manual calls for a clearance of 6 inches when the dump valve is fully extended between the t/r tip's and the dump valve. Procedures for checking this is all very well described in the manual.

Yep. Nose to tail the AS350 is 10m long. So 10m of strop and empty bambi bucket hardware hanging off the hook exposes the tail rotor to impact, which regrettably, brought about the demise here. Had it been 50' of line, the empty bucket would just fly below and aft of the tail rotor zone. Or belly hooked and it's not long enough to reach the tail rotor.

Nose to tail length is irrelevant, cargo-hook to closest point of t/r is not, which is about half the overall length...

If your displayed understanding is reflecting the common knowledge of the matter in your neck of the woods, it is unfortunately not surprising that this accident occurred...

I think we all knew what he meant Nubian !! ( and in case of misunderstanding he did say it had to stop 6" short of t/r tip !!). Maybe you have just had a bad day ..

Not sure about who's bad day it is, Nigel!?
Read the previous posts again and see if you understand my point.

Of course it's relevant. If you've got a load hanging off the hook that is about as long as the helicopter is, if it goes aerodynamic and swings back it's about the right length to put it in the tail rotor. 10m long AS350, 10m long load = danger, it can swing back and hit the tail rotor. Which is what happened in this instance. If you don't understand that I don't know of a simpler way to explain it.

Well you will have to explain that to me then ! If distance from hook to tail rotor is 6 m then doesn't really matter how long the helicopter is nose to tail. If load less than 6 m then doesn't hit tail rotor anything else is capable of hitting so I don't quite see what the total length of the machine has to do with it ????

You do realize the hook is under the middle of the helicopter and not the nose of the helicopter?

I think the only time the overall length of helicopter is relevant is when the hook is on the nose !!
Obviously the only important length is hook to t/r tip when pointing at the hook ......

Perhaps the important thing is what speed you choose to fly with an empty bucket and how you handle the aircraft in that configuration.