I woke on Saturday morning to a couple of texts from friends saying to check out the news. On doing so panic mode set in for me as I know one of the pilots very well and talk with the rest on a daily basis.
On first watching the news pictures the first thing that came to mind seeing the near complete main rotor blade was Catastrophic main gearbox failure, surely that blade would be shredded if it was rotating on impact. Today I still am thinking that but the only thing that puts a shadow of doubt in my mind is if that was the case surely the 135 fleet would have been grounded for inspection of suspect parts? I just feel now that the AAIB know more than they are saying for now.
One thing for sure both myself and colleagues will miss Dave's dulcet tones on our frequency and my own heart felt condolences go out to his family, friends and anyone else affected by this tragedy
