Another helicopter accident in spain.

[VEMD]

Is the second accident at least in 1 month...
Anyone can offer more information about that??!!
Maybe 2 fatal...

[A10 Thundybox]

Sadly 3 souls lost (current reports)
it was aparently a post wedding celebration/sight seeing flight.
The "just married" bride and groom and the pilot were killed.
Pilot thought to be a Spaniard, the happy couple were Brits.

Simply awful, the tragedies just keep coming, the above is a desperately sad tale, more so at this time of year.

condolences to the families of all involved.

[pohm1]

BBC NEWS LINK (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4113423.stm)

[James Roc]

TRAGIC NEWLYWEDS DIE IN SPAIN CHOPPER CRASH

Dec 21 2004




By Pete Samson And Dan Boffey


THE helicopter crash which killed a British couple hours after their Christmas wedding in Spain was believed to have been caused by a mechanical fault, it was said last night.

The newlyweds were flying along Spain's southern coast on a romantic sightseeing trip to their reception where friends and family were waiting when the craft went down in mountains yesterday afternoon.

They had married in the resort village of Nerja near Malaga that morning and taken off from a small local airport at 1.20pm local time.

The unnamed couple were on their way to Mijas, another coastal resort and venue for the reception, when the helicopter got into trouble in high winds about an hour and 20 minutes into the flight.

It crashed in remote, rugged mountains near the village of Istan inland from Marbella on the Costa del Sol.

The bride's worried brother alerted police when his sister and her new husband failed to turn up for the post-wedding celebration.

Spanish authorities said last night it was difficult to reach the area where the four-seater Robinson 44 helicopter crashed.

The bodies of the newlyweds were still in the wreckage last night when emergency services, troubled by the rough terrain, called off the operation to retrieve them until first light.

Also killed in the crash was the pilot, named last night as 43-year-old Salvador Alarcon, a Spaniard

He was co-owner of the helicopter and a member of Malaga's Royal Aeroclub, Spanish authorities said. The only person to survive the crash was the co-pilot, who had not been named last night.

A National Radio correspondent confirmed yesterday the new bride's brother had raised the alarm.

He said: "He was waiting for the couple to arrive for the wedding reception.

"It was difficult to understand what he was saying because he was so upset and speaking English."

Aircraft experts said last night the normally versatile helicopter should have been able to land anywhere.

They said the first indications were that the accident had probably been the result of a mechanical fault.

Last night British consulate officials on the Costa were in contact with police in an attempt to establish the identity of the two British crash victims.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of two British nationals in Spain." British officials are contacting next of kin.

Mijas, where family and friends of the couple waited for them to arrive, is hugely popular with British tourists and ex-pats.

The £10 million flop TV BBC soap Eldorado - based on the life of Brits abroad - was filmed just a few miles away.

Most of the cast and film crew working on the soap lived in Mijas.

The village is perched high above Fuengirola - one of the most popular Costa del Sol resorts.

Nerja, where the ill-fated marriage took place, used to be a fishing village.

It is 30 miles from Malaga and now has a population of 12,000 owing to its popularity with tourists. Hundreds of thousands of Brits flood to the coast of southern Spain every year.

[av8rbpm]

Anyone know the registration?

[Geoffersincornwall]

The BBC have been showing a B105 sequence with this story - don't know why?

[VEMD]

BO-105 belongs to a Spanish Civlian Guard & maybe was in rescue ops.

[The Nr Fairy]

The picture on the Daily Mail link - if it is the aircraft involved - is an R44.

[Aser]

flungdung:
Can you explain what did you see to attack the rescue pilots??
http://servicios.diariosur.es/pg041222/prensa/fotos/200412/22/002D3UL-MMM-P1_1.jpg


http://www.airliners.net/open.file/586590/L/

I think we can only blame the private pilot and owner of the helicopter in case he was doing a commercial work.

Regards.
Aser

[autosync]

Aser, I remember seing that Bolkow taking off on the news,
I understand a swift response is needed, but couldn't help but think that the pilot was showing off for the camera.

Very very fast pick up and pedal turn and an exagerated nose down transition, just looked like he was asking for trouble

[helmet fire]

Is there a link to the footage?

Are you sure they didnt speed the footage up to squeeze it into the bulletin?

[tecpilot]

Hi Aser,

where can i found a better (bigger) picture of the BO 105 performing nobody knows overhead the wreckage or ground rescuer? In case of any kind of short-haul or rappeling ops, it seems to me that we don't see a normal and EC approved procedure on the picture.

EC approved hoisting or short haul operations only if a hoist or cargo hook is installed on the ship! I couldn't detect such equipment. On rappeling provisions longline ops are prohibited.
Could it be that they have attached their line on or over the skids??? :\
If the pilots is placed on the normal right side (should be his place according to FM), and as to see another person is also on the outer right side plus the line is probably over the right skid, the ship should be easy out of lateral CG with one or more persons on the line. Perfect to see a Dynamic Rollover if the line becomes entangled on the ground! Shure they could easy open the line! Hope the crew is well prepared to any technical and rescue problems!

If the Bo105 pilots performance in the news clip is representative of helicopter flying in Spain then the accident statictics there speak for themselves.

[Steve76]

the really big question:
why a copilot in an R44?

Anyway.... I know the best Spanish pilot and he lives in Canada.
GLADIATOR!!!!

[tecpilot]

oh no, now any discussion stopped...

[mavila02]

Any new word on this accident? I wonder why did the have a co-pilot and if this is another Robinson's main rotor blade failure

[headsethair]

"another Robinson's main rotor blade failure" - have I missed something ? How many R44 blade failures have there been ? Hope you're not getting confused with R22 blades......

[tecpilot]

Time to stop any rumours. Here are some news by my spanish friends.
"Investigations into the helicopter crash in Istán, on December 20th in which the pilot and a newly married British couple died, indicated that the helicopter grazed against an oak tree branch and then lost control. Investigators have established that the 4 seater Robinson 44 hit the tree and then fell vertically, although there are still many unanswered questions, given the clear visibility at the time, even though there were strong winds that day. The tree involved is near the top of the Concha mountain and it could have been out of site initially if the pilot was flying low over the top of the mountain. The Investigation committee is still analyzing the remains to see if there was any malfunction in the commands.The condition of the Dutch co-pilot who was the only survivor from the helicopter crash near Istán on Monday, has improved in the Hospital Clinico in Málaga. He was released from hospital."

[Aser]

Tecpilot
where can i found a better (bigger) picture of the BO 105 performing nobody knows overhead the wreckage or ground rescuer? In case of any kind of short-haul or rappeling ops, it seems to me that we don't see a normal and EC approved procedure on the picture.

Today I've been talking with an ex-Guardia Civil pilot , he said that they only use this technic to move a dead body to a better access place
In the picture they are using a line attached to a rappeling platform with 4 hooks in the cabin floor with a quick release device, it's certified by MBB(now Eurocopter) for the Bo-105.
I'm sure they are trying to do the best with their equipment and for sure they know about lateral c.g. and all the stuff.
I would like to remember that it's a military organization.


Autosync
Very very fast pick up and pedal turn and an exagerated nose down transition, just looked like he was asking for trouble
I wasn't there but anyway we are all humans and I prefer to think that they were worried about the victims and not showing off for the camera.
The Spanish Guardia Civil have saved many lives in all kinds of situations using helicopters and they deserve respect.



Regards
Aser



;)

[tecpilot]

Hi Aser,

don't sweet.
I've suspected such a system. I know that rappeling kit. Made by a german manufacturer. But it's a rappelling kit, not a cargo hook. If it is that german system, it consists of glider couplings in a rack and equipped with one manually release provision only to handle by a crew member inside the pax cabin.

Please allow a little extract from JAR/FAR 27 external load:

Part 27 AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT

Sec. 27.865 External Loads:
"... must include a quick-release system to enable the pilot to release the external load quickly during flight. The quick- release system must consist of a primary quick release subsystem and a backup quick release subsystem that are isolated from one another..."

I'm shure they give their best and it wasn't my aim to blame the spanish collegues. I would like to remember that it's a military organization. That's ok and they can do what ever they want. But nobody is free to fail.

If i try to do such an operation i would prever the left side of the a/c. Why? c/g better shared and the special characteristics of the BO 105 in right turns, especially right bank on lower speeds with high main rotor loading factor. SUFFICIENT LATERAL
CONTROL is it named and the BO 105 is really affected. With a rope over the right skid you can have a right bank if the the load is entangled on the ground or in some other situations... I hope on pressure and heavy load on the rope the dammned rope with rings on his end will easy slide through the cabin side by side with the crewman, above the skid and wheel provisions,... and the very agile Bo 105 with a left lateral control input by the pilot (to recover the right bank) will not spun a barrel roll into the mountain on her left side as on picture, if the crewman release the line. Only some thoughts...

[mavila02]

Headsethair:

Sorry but I didn’t specify, I just said Robinson and meant R22; any way I will be waiting for more news on this.