Hmm, now "Chopper Pilot Ken." Now there's an expert's expert.
"That's right, Suzy, high winds may have caused this accident. These things are awfully fragile, you see. Sometimes high winds can cause the transmission of a helicopter to break completely off!"
Sheesh.
There was an A109 that came apart in NYC once. Everyone knows that a flat landing gear strut can cause ground resonance. In the case I'm thinking of, a mechanic had inadvertently
over-serviced a gear strut so that it was as solid as Iraq. Puzzled, the poor pilot tried to set it down a couple of times, but every time that left-rear wheel touched the ground the machine would start a-shakin' and a-wobblin' and he'd snatch it back into the air. I guess he got fed up, because he finally just planted it and bystanders hit the dirt as parts started flying. Odd.
Shawn Coyle:
I know everyone is going to look at this as yet another A109 crash - but (and I can say this now and not be accused of being a company man, because I don't work for Agusta anymore)...
Wh-wh-whaaaaat!? I know that we helicopter pilots have a reputation as a bunch o'gypsies, but what's with the job-hopping, Shawn? I mean, I usually keep up on these things but I must have let my sub to R&W lapse.