Originally Posted by
Reely340
He admitted that he was at 80ft when he noticed the 80% RRPM.
He had not noticed the horn or the low rpm light
So no blame game from his side.
Not knowing the real cause of the accident of course but the pilot surely doesn't have a good scanning technique missing the 80% Rrpm and that bright orange light indicating low Rrpm.
I've hade Bose and Lightspeed ANR and never failed to hear the low Rrpm horn in a Robbie or any other heli with warning sounds. You can even hear the Rrpm's once you get some flying hours.
Part of the startup checklist is check the low Rrpm horn and light.....
Short final, losing ETL, I still have my money on overpitching, trying to stop a high ROD. Sadly at 80ft you don't have much time to lower the lever and go around.
Hand on throttle. I always teach students to keep their hand on the throttle and not just before the throttle. You can feel sudden throttle changes indicating something is going wrong. For sure in a carbureted engine like the R22 and some R44's, if you miss the carb temperature going below 0, then you might feel the throttle being opened more and more.
Don't know if this R44 was carbureted or not otherwise carb icing could even be a cause. Still all easily to spot with a good scan (part of proper training).