Chopper hits power lines : Politicians survive accident

[Gunship]

From News 24Cape Town - A helicopter carrying Eastern Cape social development MEC Christian Martin and MPL Temmy Majodina crash landed near Stutterheim on Thursday after apparently hitting power lines.

Provincial government spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the helicopter was on its way to Sterkspruit when the accident occurred.

The helicopter's blades hit power lines before going down, as the glare of the sun apparently blinded the pilot.

Martin and Majodina were not seriously hurt, he said.

Martin told Sapa he was "lucky to be alive".

Speaking from another helicopter taking them to a child support grant launch in Sterkspruit, Martin said the helicopter hit a power line, which "smashed the front wind screen and sliced the metal... It stopped just in front of my seat."

He said the pilot was "very professional" and helped bring the "totally unstable" helicopter to a bumpy landing.

Majodina, the Eastern Cape's public works committee chairperson, said she heard a "big sound" before the helicopter spiralled out of control.

"We don't want to blame anybody, accidents happen anyhow," she said.

Majodina had glass shards removed from her eye at a hospital, and Martin was treated for a sore neck.

[krobar]

Rings a lot like a accident in scotland a while back.
Pilot recreated the opening scene from magnum for his pax(who were politicians).
Politicians seem to love flying in choppers, at the tax payers expense.

[Gunship]

Wonder what is ? was the a/c type ?

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Politicians surviving a helicopter crash?

The possibilities for cheap shots are endless......:E

I'll start:

Loss of chopper = disaster

Politicians survived = tragedy

[DualDriver]

Caught a brief glimps of it on the news last night. Looks like a Jetranger or Longranger

[krobar]

3rd Day of Trial - Extract from BBC website

Headline - Crash pilot did 'remarkable job'

The pilot of a helicopter that crashed after taking the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader on a campaign trip did "a remarkable job", a court has heard.
Captain Alistair Gwilt, an independent helicopter expert, said Iain Grindlay deserved a "pat on the back" for his handling of a crash landing.
Mr Gwilt was giving evidence for the defence at the trial of Mr Grindlay.

Mr Grindlay is charged with endangering the safety of the helicopter and its passengers, which he denies. He also denies endangering people and property in the valley near the village of Pathhead.
The accident happened on 30 April, 2003, the day before polling in the Scottish Parliament election. The aircraft was being used by the Liberal Democrats during the Scottish parliamentary election campaign at the time.
Mr Grindlay had flown the Scottish party leader Jim Wallace and his wife to a number of pre-election photo-shoots during the day.

Mr Gwilt, 47, told the jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday he that rated Mr Grindlay's flying ability highly.
He said: "Iain had always impressed upon me his skill at flying. He is very diligent in what he does, professional and courteous".

Commenting on an allegation that the pilot flew the helicopter at 20ft above the sea to replicate the opening sequence of the 1980s TV programme 'Magnum', Mr Gwilt said there had been no danger to the passengers, even at that height.

In earlier evidence, Mr Grindlay had told the court he had decided to make a precautionary landing in the field because he could not see his landing site at Oxenfoord because of low cloud and showers.
On his approach to the site, his tail rotor caught the earth wire on the pylons. He claimed he had only seen the wires at the last minute.

Mr Gwilt said he had flown the route taken by Mr Grindlay after the accident, but said he had not told him about the power line.
He said: "It was only about half a mile from landing site that I saw the pylons and the wires themselves and that was on a clear day". The wires, he added, "blended" into the background.

"It was a last-minute awareness problem for Captain Grindlay," he said.
"Yes, he came into contact, but he did his best to avoid them.
"It is just, in my eyes, an accident like bumping your car in a supermarket car park. It is just unfortunate it happened".

Asked by John Campbell, QC, for the defence, how he regarded Mr Grindlay's actions, Mr Gwilt said: "Admirably. A pat on the back. It appears to be a crash, but it was a heavy landing."
"He has carried out a remarkable job as I would expect."

[B Sousa]

This thread is very quiet from Helicopter Pilots who know that "there but for fortune".
In the End the Pilot will eat this one, but thankfully he will still be around to eat it.
I have lost more friends than I can count flying into wires. At least two Hueys in my units have done it and all with disasterous ends.
This will alert guys for a while and then things will settle down until the next one.
My curiousity goes a bit beyond as I would like to know:
How big were the Wires??
Did they have wire Cutters on the A/C??
Were these plotted on any maps??
Was it necessary to fly as low as they were??
(Saw the Photo on www.avcom.co.za lucky, looks like small wire, slow speed or combination)

[Jangys]

Helicopter Reg: ZS-RFS
Model: Bell Longranger
Operator: NAC
Owner: King Air Services Partnership

Heli had no wire cutter kit installed. The rotor brake took almost all of the impact as it was sheared from its mounting and recovered from the cockpit floor. The battery cables, overhead panel etc. was totally destroyed. By the looks of the impact marks, the first point of impact was on the pilot side windshield which shattered.

The single power cable was strung between two hills, so the pilot was flying in the valley when the incident occured.

Heard that the ACFT was configured as an air ambulance, and had only two seats at the back. Apparently it is the second incident in two months involving the same heli and pilot. First incident the door was not latched and flew open and broke off during flight.


:cool: