212man axed:
As I said earlier - is there actually a need to engage the rotors to do a drying run?
Perhaps not, technically. And with perfect hindsight we can say that they shouldn't have turned it up. But we have to delve into the mind of the helicopter pilot a little. (We don't have to delve deeply...and can't, really because with most of us there isn't much depth there.)
Consider: It was a new machine and none of the pilots had much time in it. So these two jokers were tasked with doing a ground run...a "dry run" if you will, and all that was required was running the engines. Is there a pilot among us who would
not engage the rotor and bring her up to speed? I would have. You too, most likely. Admit it. (And I'm using the collective "you" here, not the cyclic "you" aimed at 212man.)
But here's the thing. And I keep harping on this all the time. If you take a helicopter rotor up to operational speed, you have to assume that you're going flying. Because...you know...you are. Even if the blades don't happen to be at an angle of attack to lift the helicopter off the ground, they're very capable of doing just that. It's like doing a "taxi test" by running a fixed-wing down the runway at takeoff speed with all the control locks in place: Stupid! No one would do that. But we dumb helicopter pilots do it all the time!
Let's cast our memory back a bit to the famous accident where the police 206B came off the dolly and ended up on its side. We've all seen the video, right? It was "just" a ground-run. We can tell from the uncowled state of the aircraft that the pilot was not intending to fly. He probably had his foot up on the doorsill, propping the door open as all of us 206 drivers do when it's hot out. More importantly, since this was just a ground-run, he probably had the cyclic and collective frictions on tight. Hey, we're not going flying, right? And then the dolly starts rolling because of the famous "SUDDEN GUST OF WIND!" The pilot grabs the controls and inadvertently gets the thing airborne. Only now..
.yikes!...ohmygod...damn!...what the...how the...damn...ohhhhh no...BOOM.
Sing it with me now!
"Another one bites the dust...hey!"
So here's the lesson: Treat EVERY turn-up of the main rotor as a flight. Don't go to 100% unless you're ready, willing and able to be airborne.