Thoughts and Observations from News Accounts
The occupants who rode to the ground were partially burned, but not burned up. There is a photo of one of the bodies (not Gary) being carried away in one of the articles, and most of him was not burned. Perhaps it was the one who exited early and he was also burned, I cannot tell. An electrical fire would probably not have generated as much flame as was apparently seen surrounding the copter as it came down. I think it was fuel.
Certainly the pilot Gary Vaucher made a valiant effort to get on the ground when the flames broke out. Perhaps all the more he could have done is descend immediately instead of making a turn to get on the airport grounds. Perhaps he smelled smoke or fuel. One account said He requested of the tower to deviate from his track to his destination airport and turn to the international airport. I guess the lesson here is get down NOW if you smell fuel or smoke, and shut down what may be making it. That is the universal recommendation. We will see if the impact, or smoke and fire inhalation was the reason they did not survive.
Last edited by coptercop; 22nd Feb 2009 at 05:02.