Emergency! Rooftop helipad or ground?

[Flying Lawyer]

ABC News Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing on Roof

LOS ANGELES — A helicopter pilot tried to land on the roof of a downtown high-rise due to an "in-flight emergency" today, but the craft missed the heliport and landed hard on the roof, a fire official said.

The two men aboard the two-seat Robinson R-22 were uninjured and there was no fire, but the chopper was seriously damaged, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Fire crews were called to the 54-story Wells Fargo building at 333 S. Grand Ave. about 10:15 a.m., said Humphrey.
"There was some type of in-flight emergency," said Humphrey. "The pilot attempted to land on the rooftop heliport, but he missed the heliport and the helicopter impacted the rooftop."

The hard landing left the tail section of the craft twisted and the fuselage damaged.
There was no obvious damage to the roof, said Humphrey.

Fire crews were sent to the 723-foot building -- the seventh tallest in Los Angeles -- after getting a call from security personnel there, he said.

The hard landing will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Humphrey said the helicopter is 15 years old.

[Heliport]

http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/la11.jpg

The Wells Fargo Tower is in the centre of the picture.

[fulldownauto]

Can't wait to read about this one tomorrow.

I can't think of many reasons other than an engine failure that I'd put it on a roof. Maybe with the cyclic shaking out of my hand, but still, hard not to find another spot.

If it was an auto to the roof. . . that took some serious guts. Maybe it'll wake people up and make them realize that buzzing downtown LA, even in a small helicopter, isn't all that prudent. It doesn't give you the best emergency landing sites, to say the least. Stay high when you fly, esp. over downtown.

James

[sprocket]

What was an R22 doing up that high?

[imabell]

i had an engine failure in a 280 shark over la and managed to put it down on a street. did minor damage to the tail fairing but got away unscathed myself. wheww!! :eek: :oh:

[Lightning_Boy]

I've buzzed that tower, not a wise thing to do in hindsight !

[Flying Lawyer]

From the brief report it seems the pilot elected to land on the bank's helipad because of an in-flight emergency (and missed) rather than an engine failure.

It's fun flying near the Downtown skyscrapers but just as much fun and safer slightly further away where there are open spaces.

Traffic Watch LA 1997.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/KISSFM3.jpg


These pictures (from the net) show the Wells Fargo Tower in the right foreground ......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/DowntownLA2.jpg

and the helipad.
http://www.hollywoodlocations.com/exclusive/officebldg/wellsfargo_tower/full/03.JPG

[zardoz]

Look at all those Helipads! He was almost spoilt for choice...

Are any rooftop helipads still in operation in London? (Other than the London Hospital).

[helicopter-redeye]

Look at all those Helipads! He was almost spoilt for choice...

Welcome to America. Helicopters used as business transport.

But look at the security risks that incident raises.

I knew somebody once who had an engine failure in a Sioux over Hong Kong, and he dropped it into an intersection of two of the main roads in Kowloon just as all the lights got to red.

Now that's more than lucky >>

:cool:

[Heliport]

Interesting to read the purely factual coverage by the American newspapers and tv stations:

LA Times:
Chopper Crashes Atop LA Skyscraper
"No one is hurt when a small helicopter crash-lands on the roof of the 54-story Wells Fargo building .....

NBC4.TV
Helicopter Pilot Makes Emergency Landing On Skyscraper
Los Angeles -- A helicopter pilot avoided a crash Sunday by making an emergency landing on top of the Wells Fargo building downtown. ...

KESQ
Helicopter crashes atop of 54-story Los Angeles skyscraper

KABC
Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing on Roof

Boston Globe, MA
Copter crash-lands on skyscraper roof
Los Angeles-- A small helicopter crashed yesterday on the roof of a downtown skyscraper while trying to make an emergency landing, authorities said. ...


Just imagine the shock-horror senationalist headlines and coverage we'd get in the UK if a similar incident happened here. Probably more like the headline in the Melbourne Herald Sun, which obviously decided the facts weren't dramatic enough ...
Helicopter crashes into skyscraper :rolleyes:


Heliport

[fulldownauto]

"HELO EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AT 1200 FT AND MADE A FORCED LANDING ONTO THE 55 STORY WELLS FARGO BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, CA. NO INJURIES AND SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE IS REPORTED."

From the FAA site. Loss of engine power, sure sounds like engine failure. That's 1200 minus a 700 foot building, the perfect 500 foot auto, but at 1200 feet, couldn't they have found a better spot?

Well good for them, they walked away and didn't hurt anyone else; that's the best you could hope for over downtown I suppose.

[Heliport]

fulldownauto

Thanks for providing more detail. :ok:
The media reports published on the day said only that the pilot landed because of an "in flight emergency."

____________


Roof-top helipad or ground in an emergency?

Should single engine helicopters be prohibited from flying over downtown?

Or would that be an over-reaction given such incidents are so rare relative to the volume of single-engine helicopter traffic?



Heliport

[SASless]

Heliport....

Two points...

One....One cannot expect the "truth" , "facts only" , or a remotely accurate account from the American media. The concept that our media are purveyors of truth is similar to that of the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.

Single engine aircraft are safe. The FAA says so...the Oil companies say so (in the USA)....the manufacturers say so.....just ask Bell and Robinson.....and so does Nick Lappos. (I may be misapplying his stats regarding engine failures being a .000008 occurrence.) Finally, as demonstated by the landing of the aircraft in question.....safe landings can be made following inflight emergencies.

An interesting question would be to compare the accident rate for helicopters and automobiles for the day in question for the Los Angeles area. One could easily determine that helicopters are far safer a way to travel than by automobile. There were no injuries in helicopters....but I am sure plenty of people got hurt in cars.

This ain't Blighty (yet)....singles are still welcome.:ok:

[Flying Lawyer]

Look at all those Helipads! He was almost spoilt for choice... I think (not 100% sure) all major skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles are required by the city to have flat roofs, marked with their own number, to facilitate helicopter landings in emergencies. eg High-rise fires.

[S76Heavy]

With my European training and offshore background I would say no SE over large cities. Lose the engine and the only way is down, finding a clear spot for your auto is then largely down to lady luck.

The technology is available (twins), so why not make it mandatory?

And more capable A/C require better trained pilots so they don't mishandle a single engine failure.

Eventually, it all boils down to money.