Police helicopter crashes onto Glasgow pub

[zorab64]

Condolences & discussion

As someone who's expecting to fly one of these, in this role, tomorrow, I remain confident that this airframe is one of the best for this task, if flown & maintained properly, unless your luck really has run out . . . which has happened in the past. Valid speculation can be valuable for those who may feel nervous about getting back in the saddle, and there are a number of pointers from eye-witnesses, and the photos, which should help to reassure others - the following are nothing else but observations, with a little speculation at the end:

1. Photos show the better part of two whole MR blades, and a smaller end of one other, intact over some length. The two protruding blades appear close to, but less than, 90deg apart. Having seen photos of a 135 that rolled over under power some years ago, the carbon fibre blade spars shred themselves completely.

2. The fenestron appears mostly intact, if twisted, and in conjunction with MRBs would seem to show a roll to the left to inverted after/during landing - certainly IF the reports of a landing, followed by a roof collapse, are accurate,

3. One might expect an aircraft with a complete power loss and "stopped" rotors (as some have reported) to hit the roof so hard as to go straight through, but might also expect the impact to create a lot more distortion of the lighter parts, & tail boom specifically.

4. If reports of stopped rotors were accurate, it could be argued that the deadweight of the airframe, and the C of G with heavy transmission on top might have started to turn the aircraft inverted before impact?

5. A number of consecutive TR blades appear to be in place - the photo isn't taken at an angle to allow a view of the rest.

6. Whilst UK Police 135's are not required to be, & aren't, fitted with a CVR, some historical data is downloadable from the FADECs, so AAIB may at least be able to find out what the engines were doing in the later moments of flight.

Personal opinion only, is that it might appear there was some control which reduced the rate of descent before impact, hence the relatively minor distortion of the rear empenage, and the reports of an impact, with time for people in the pub to comment about the band, followed by the roof caving in. Of course there is no indication, apart from the tragic result recently announced, of the state of the main body of the aircraft, which has had a good track-record in other, fairly high impact, EC135 accidents. The lack of any reported emergency by the pilot might speak more volumes than anything else, certainly so close to base. That worst case scenario of something sudden, as intimated by David Learmount, may have to be considered.

It a very sad day when an event such as this occurs, tragic for those who fly these machines (who are aware of the risks but train hard to mitigate them) and doubly so for the innocent Friday night public who we spend our time assisting & protecting. All sympathies & prayers are with those affected.

At the end of the day, however, the AAIB are world-respected experts in their field and will get to the bottom of what happened, with the willing assistance of the manufacturers. The reason aviation, in almost every area, is as safe as it is today is because we listen, read & learn about these terrible events which understandably, but sadly, make more headlines than the road fatalities that spoil so many more lives. Any failing of the aircraft will surely be addressed as quickly as possible, as has happened in the past, and we'll learn and adjust the way we operate. The 135 remains a state of the art machine IMHO, which has looked after me and my team very satisfactorily for many years. As I don't like complacency, however, I always keep a useful phrase in the back of my mind, from my early training:

"Aviation itself is not inherently dangerous but, to an even greater capacity than the sea, is very unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect."