Jammed Controls - Instances?

[Hot and Hi]

Originally Posted by JimEli

I don't want to hijack this thread, however, this can not go unchallenged. As an AS350 instructor since 1995, having performed literally countless AS350 aircraft and simulator stuck pedals, I find your statement inconceivable. But certainly, don't take my word for it:

Simulated Failure Procedure FFS AS350 B3/H125 - Tail Rotor Control Failure

Stuck Pedal Landing Procedures

Stuck Pedal

Stuck Pedal Run on in AS-350

N1883H Aerospatiale AS350 Stuck Pedal Practice

AS350 Stuck Pedal Landing

etc...

Note: the official Airbus Helicopter’s video (first one) demonstrates a condition where the linkage between the pedals and T/R has been severed. The pedals are free to move, however, the T/R is in a “fixed pitch” position.

LAX07IA115

One can agree with Gordy that the manual is useless: OK, everything the manual says is correct but one has to know prior what is correct, and then read the text several times to understand what they indeed mean. Anyway, who has time during an emergency to study the manual...

On the other hand, JimEli, all the five videos that you pulled out demonstrate the stuck right pedal procedure (what the manual calls "control failure", the TR being stuck a high angle of attack). What Gordy described was a stuck left pedal scenario (what the manual calls "TR Drive failure")! In the context if this educational thread started my Mick Cullen, Gordy admits that at the time he misdiagnosed the type of TR failure he was having and applied the "stuck right pedal" procedure. We are grateful to Gordy for his vivid account of his stuck TR experience! I just brings home how important it is to figure out if you have too much, or too little anti-torque before deciding on your course of action.