Originally Posted by
heli
As an owner and operator of a Squirrel variant with floats, you should be more familiar with the Flight Manual Supplement for Emergency Flotation Gear. All Squirrels and the EC-130 have a similar set of limitations and emergency procedures, which include a max IAS of 135kts inflated, a maximum altitude of 6,600ft, a mandatory requirement for the floats to be armed when overwater below 400ft and recommended maximum inflation speed of 80kts in an emergency. Your B4 emergency procedures are on 9-17-3, to help you check. (Most of us with experience would recommend ignoring the instruction on 9-17-4 to apply the rotor brake after touch down, however!)
Nothing whatsoever in the AS350/EC-130 manuals about rolling into the water after ditching, nothing at all about gentle landings on the water, just a note to 'avoid ramming of the nose of the floats on touch-down'.
I still believe that there was little or no control of this accident after the cover impacted the blades and an opportunity to inflate the floats was missed. Crash, yes; controlled, no. To hold a press conference tending to self promotion is not what most helicopter pilots would be comfortable with.
Heli thank you so much for the reminder of what is in my Flight Manual, but I'm not sure what your point really is? The video on BBC web site gives a pretty good view of the accident if you play it full screen and freeze frame. I've just timed the incident from impacting the cover to hitting the water- 5.5 seconds. You and very few others seem to suggest that Q should have been able to control the aircraft more, and "missed the opportunity" to inflate the floats in that 5.5 seconds. From the interview and videos it seems clear that Q had a hell of a battle controlling (you say not controlling) the aircraft just to avoid hitting the ship, which was a clear priority. In the interview he referred to "large amplitude oscillations of the cyclic at about 6hz" (presume due to severely out of balance main rotor following impact damage?) I understand his legs are badly bruised from impacting the cyclic repeatedly, such was the battle for control. Perhaps your reactions would have been even faster and you would found the time to activate the floats before hitting the water? Q did however activate the floats post impact, and this prevented the aircraft sinking.
My belief is (and I have no idea if this was Q's thinking or not) if the floats HAD been inflated when the aircraft hit the water at high speed they would have ruptured and the aircraft would have gone to the bottom with two people in it. The maximum IAS of 80kts you quote is for inflation when flying, not the speed at which the water can be impacted with floats deployed. The floats are quite fragile fabric bags, not in the least bit hydrodynamically shaped, and I suggest anything faster than a flare and gentle settling onto the water would destroy the floats, and flip the helicopter. The video suggests that gently landing upright on the water was never an option, nor was "applying the rotor brake after touchdown".
Research by EASA and Eurocopter
http://www.easa.europa.eu/system/fil...inalreport.pdf shows that damage to the Emergency Floatation System following impact with water is very likely, and also that the best chance of escape is when the helicopter is lying on its side. I did not suggest that the AS350 or EC130 Flight manual recommended rolling into the water after ditching. I did make the point however, that there is some logic to ditching on its side (if you are unable to do a controlled level landing with floats deployed), in order to dissipate the energy of the rotor and facilitate escape from the aircraft. Such a recommendation has made its way into at least one Type Flight Manual.
You and the other posters have now had 10 days to think through what you might have done, and what Q should have done, in what was a violent, unplanned accident. Q had just 5.5 seconds to react and I believe he did an extraordinarily good job in the adverse circumstances.
I find it incredible that any "experienced" fellow pilot would do anything but congratulate Q on his bravery and skilled handling of the situation, and hope to never be tested in that way themselves. Whatever you feel you might have been able to do better in the same situation, Q actually did save two peoples lives, and they and their families opinions are what should count most.