To: Joe pilot and the others. I sent this news article to a lawyer friend that tried three cases against Robinson and won all three. However as I stated previously he and his clients didn't collect a cent because Frank Robinson hides his money in offshore accounts. I know Joe that you are basking in the glory of having been published as I too felt the same way when I first saw my name in print.
Deat tim,
Here is the accident report from Heli-News.
In Flight Separation Caused Showcopters
Accident
September 5, 2000
(WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA - HELI-NEWS) - An in-flight
separation of a main rotor assembly caused last month's
Robinson R-22 accident that claimed the lives of a veteran
pilot and a student, according to a preliminary report from
the National Transportation Safety Board.
N8313Z went into an uncontrolable decent, crashed into a
field, and burned, the report says.
Killed were 57-year-old Kent Reinhard, an airline
transport-rated pilot with thousands of hours of flight
experience and a member of the Showcopters aerobatic
team, and 46-year-old student pilot Gary Sefton. It was
Sefton's first helicopter lesson, according to local news
reports.
The NTSB said wreckage from the helicopter was scattered
for hundreds of feet around the crash site. "Plexiglas, and
headphone fragments [were found] about 470 feet north of
the main wreckage," the report said. "Sunglasses and a
headphone's ear cup were found about 330 feet north of the
wreckage."
Showcopters performs aerial stunts with a Robinson R-44
Newscopter and a pair of Robinson R-22s. At a recent show
at the San Carlos Airport near San Francisco, Showcopters
director and lead pilot Jim Cheatham described Reinhard as
a 20,000-plus-hour agricultural pilot. Cheatham and
Reinhard had been flying aerobatics together since 1996,
according to the company.
The Showcopters website contained a simple news item
regarding the crash. "Our grief is indescribable. A
celebration of Kent's life will be held at Watsonville Airport
on September 23."
Copyright 2000 HELI-NEWS. All rights reserved.
The airshow team in some cases flew their helicopters backwards while
spewing white smoke. I am going to send a picture of one of them in this
situation. Note the direction of the smoke. Although the air currents
around the helicopter may account for the direction of the smoke but most
likely he was flying out of trim and in a rearward side slip both of which
are forbidden by the POH and the FAA AD .
Best regards,
Lu Zuckerman
[email protected]
PS I sent my report to Jim Hall at NTSB and in closing the cover letter I
told him I had also sent it to Dateline NBC. Yesterday (Labor Day) I
received an email from Mr. Hall telling me that he had assigned four
engineers and they were reopening the investigation.
Maybe, Justice will be served, but a bit late for the pilots and passengers
in the 32 Robinson Helicopters that lost their rotors or had a rotor
incursion.
20,000 hours doesn't help if you cross the line or if repeated overstress finally lead to the mast fracture. Only time will tell.
To Joe Pilot and the others I will try transfer the above referenced photo but, I don't think I can.
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The Cat