Have you no faith in the Egg?
I track such things
Autorotations during powerline work in MD 500 Helicopters 1980-present
All were in the avoid curve, many bonded to the line when they initiated autorotation.
Pilot
Lineman
Serious
Fatal (platform)
MIA99FA158
None
None (Skid)
NYC99LA055
Serious
Fatal (HEC)
Too New
None
2 None (Skid)
LAX99LA245
Serious
1 Serious(front) 1 Fatal(Rear)
SEA07LA135
Minor
Minor (Platfrom)
ATL04LA181
None
Minor (Platfrom)
CHI00FA110
None
Serious (Platform)
CHI96FA099
None
1 None (fron) 1 None (Rear)
MIA93LA055
Serious
1 Serious (front) 1 Serious(Rear)
NYC88LA083
Minor
No Passengers
WPR12LA022
Serious
No Passengers
WRP12LA328
Serious Serious (front) ATSB
Minor Minor (front) Fatal (Platform) ATSB
None None Too New
Notice, in all 15 accidents, no pilots of front seat passengers had fatal injuries
In fact only one fatality was in the aircraft.
Most of the fatal accidents in our industry are wirestrikes, A second engine doesn't help on those. There are also gearbox failures, IIMC and Birdstrikes. You'd also have otherthings to worry about if you used a 355, hyd. failure, etc. Several of the above autos are tail rotor drive / blade failures. Engine failures rank low on the list of causes for fatal accidents. Higher on the list of accidents overal, but they are not very often fatal, even single engine within the HV curve (especially in the 500).
I have been on a longline on our 500s, and would not hesitate to get on again knowing how well our aircraft are maintained.
I think I would rather ride the longline on one of my fellow pilots 500's on a 60' line than take a ride on Grids A-Star in the manbasket. The twin just is just rarly a factor and the grid videos I watched did not give me much comfort. Still, there are a few instances it would have saved lives.
Sorry, the board didnt like my table
Last edited by 500guy; 28th November 2012 at 22:01.