Cranium protection

[collective bias]

Gidday blokes,
Having just seen and read about Andy Shaw (Huey accident in NZ) I cannot help but wonder why we all don't make helmets mandatory or at least strongly advised for all or most types of helo operation. With complete respect to Andy Shaw, I cannot say a helmet would have saved him or that he even had one on (TV footage showed previous shots with no helmet ie. my assumption).
What I do know is Glen Hemepo who died (Kiwikopter NZ 1998) when the engine of his H269 (handgrenade) **** itself o/h powerlines - had only an impact to his temple. They say the helmet would have saved him...
Some helo's (eg. S76) are annoying to fly with one on but think about the proximity of panels and cb's to one head. One severe servo failure and the lights would be out.
Tourists don't like them, but only one of the thousands of persons I flew ever commented on the one I wear (thankyou Alpha)
They never will be a guarantee to survival but remember....in most countries its illegal to ride a pushbike without one!.

[SARcastic]

In the mid to late Eighties, Bristow in Aberdeen had some Aussie pilots on some strange deal. One of them pitched up wearing a helmet one day (cos it's comfortable & safer-in his view) - he was grabbed by one of the top neddy's and pointedly told not to wear a helmet, cos the oily's might start to think that flying was unsafe.

:rolleyes:

[MBJ]

I liked your point about the pushbike!

I think for general charter work the feeling is that pilot's helmets will frighten the passengers off. All same nomex overalls. I try to wear both for filming or any other potentially hazardous work.

But, you're right, in many many accident reports one of the conclusions will be "..if the pilot was wearing a helmet he would probably have survived"

[The Silver Fox]

I'd been considering a thread such as this myself.

I have discussed this issue with a couple of people locally and have general agreement for low level/ag/offshore/sling ops/mountain flying type of stuff, but for charter it might be over the top. I haven't had much agreement for my view that nomex underwear in the style of motor racers be considered, all or nothing seems to be the popular view.

The only impassioned objection I received came from a person that believed that adding weight to the head increased the strain on the neck in the event of a severe impact. I disagree, given my experience hanging around motor racing (there had to be a link!) but is there any support for this view out there?

[collective bias]

my last skid lid was an SPH-4. I purchased an alpha after being told by a SARO that the early gentex allegedly generated a C section fracture or break in the neck, due whiplash. These were the old fibreglass jobs.
Never had any complaints from pax on charter op's, but it depends on the operating environment. Typically we are 100's to 1000's miles from assistance and I guess the guys figure the only person who will know the way home is me.
Additional thoughts would suggest that if a shoulder harness failed, you are going to eat cyclic and US ARMY stat's imply that the clear visor of helmets is the greatest protection a pilot has. I have also observed the Mil. army pilots flying with the clear visor down. Is this mandatory?. I find the vision distortion annoying. Helmet also provides noise protection through the skull.

[The Silver Fox]

Collective,

The current generation of lightweight helmets reduce the 'added weight' argument, the doctor who did my last medical told me that the weakness in the gentex was that it exposed the neck to impact. Can't say this was a major concern, (I don't fly anything wihtout a rotor brake) but had heard also of the old gentex having a breaking moment on the neck.

Also, if going to the extent of having a helmet, it might as well be all the way with a dual visor job, as I have found with sunglasses, the distortion is relative and it's less than can be found in some bubbles, but that's another thread.

BTW, has anybody out there flown with more than just the one of the modern light helmets? I've seen Gentex, Alpha & CGF, are there any others worth considering?

------------------

[eden]

As an ex-RN pilot (96) - we had clear visors that didn't distort and were worn as a matter of course, after a few birdstrike experiences.

the Mil helmets were clumsy heavy pieces of kit but I have used the Alpha(light and very comfy) commercially and have only used for Low level/ Wire & Pipeline survey/aerial filming, loadlifting etc

[Randy_g]

Good thread. :) I've almost always worn a helmet while I've flown. For a brief while I tried the ball cap and headset thing, due to the temps we were flying in. I found (my opinion) that my helmet (Gentex SPH5) was only marginally hotter than the ball cap, and was more comfortable for me. So I went back to wearing it.

I have had passengers ask me why I wear one (did a little tourist work, and yes I wore it). I answered that it's my personal policy to wear one, and that I'm more comfortable with one, than without. If someone thinks that I wear one because flying is unsafe, I point out that most people don't crash their cars, but they wear seatbelts anyway. How about this, if we all wore them, then you could simply say "company policy", or some other catch phrase. :)

I installed the dual visor conversion a while ago, and I'm very glad I did. I was unimpressed with the clear visor, so I special ordered the amber visor. It sures makes a big difference in low/flat light. It brings out what little contrast there is, and brightens everything.

I believe that it's up to you if you want to wear one. The facts show that helmets can prevent/reduce head injury in a crash. I will continue to wear a helmet whenever I fly. I consider it a form of insurance for my head (although some might argue that there isn't much in there to insure :)).

Well that's my 2 cents worth.

Cheers

Randy_G


If you can't stand the heat...

then turn up the air conditioner !! :)

[This message has been edited by Randy_g (edited 26 January 2001).]

[Larry]

LA CITY Fire Dept. had a terrible accident in march 1998 after Bell 205A-1 "Fire 3" had a inflight tail rotor gearbox separation,
The Pilot had a helmet on( required on all flights)but the two paramedics onboard did not have helmets nor were they required to do so.The helicopter auto-rotated ,hit trees and crashed hard into the left front nose area. Both paramedics and the accident victim being transported were killed. Although badly hurthe pilot lived ,no doubt because he was wearing a helmet.His head hit so hard it fractured his skull.
ALL paramedic crew members now have their own helmet plus crash worthy rear seats and 4-point saftey harnesses have been installed in all LA City Fire dept. helicopters.
These items should of been required and funded before people had to die but at least the problem is fixed for future operations.
Helmets save lives and if your going out doing risky flights its a piece of equipment
you might consider.

BTW... Every Police Dept ,Fire Dept ,US Forest service and BLM contract helicopter pilot either uses or are required to where helmets.....and some are alive because they did.

[eden]

Not having any first hand experience of crashes.....I confess not being able to talk with absolute authority about the results of them. However, just a thought - whatever flying we do be it point 2 point charter with a couple of business people, to the most extreme of SAR missions in 80kt winds adjacent to cliffs in mountains or wherever......if you crash it is going to hurt. Helmets have got to be better on than off.

[This message has been edited by eden (edited 26 January 2001).]

[CTD]

I wore a helmet during training and ever since. Had a nasty incident in turbulance with a Hughes 500D in the eighties where my head struck the door post and broke the visor off, and I certainly haven't flown without a helmet since that. My current bucket is a dual visor SPH5 with the Sennheiser Active Noise Cancelling kit installed.

When questioned about why I wear a "Crash Helmet", I respond like this....

-First of all, it is not a Crash Helmet, it's a Flight Helmet.
-I explain that I spend most of my time in the aircraft, and the increased noise protection is very beneficial in the long term. My last Audiogram showed my hearing to be 30% better than average for my age. Not bad for someone working in a high noise environment.
-The clear visor is helpful for bird strike protection, the smoke visor supplements my glasses in high glare environments like offshore or high Arctic spring days.
-Personally, I find it infinitely more comfortable that a headset and ball hat.
-If none of those things work, then it's time to get blunt. I spent most of my career in remote areas, so the customer usually gets the meaning when you say.....The main reason YOU should be happy that I'm wearing a helmet is that if anything happens, the last thing you want is for me to be incapacitated.