Chopper Blade Injury, Queensland

[LowNr]

Just seen this article - anyone know anything more??
Man hit by chopper prop


"Man hit by chopper prop

04oct05

A 58-year-old man is in a critical condition on Queensland's Sunshine Coast after being hit by a helicopter propeller, an ambulance spokesman said.

The spokesman said the man received severe head injuries in the accident at a helicopter training school at the Sunshine Coast Airport at Maroochydore at 9.30am (AEST) today.
The man was taken by a nearby Energex Community Rescue helicopter to the Royal Brisbane Hospital. "

LowNr

:ooh:

[Desert Flower]

From the Adelaide Advertiser:

Pilot walks into chopper blade

04oct05

A 58-year-old Queensland helicopter instructor is in a serious condition after walking into a slowly revolving rotor blade.

The pilot – with more than 30 years experience – works at Becker Helicopters which is based at the Sunshine Coast Airport at Maroochydore.
He had just completed a training flight in the two-seat Hughes 300 chopper when the accident happened at 9.20am (AEST) today.

Police said he had shutdown the chopper, removed his helmet and was walking away when he was hit on the head by the slow moving main blades.

The pilot received a compound fracture to the skull and was rushed by the Energex Community Rescue Helicopter to the Royal Brisbane Hospital in a serious condition.

Becker Helicopters chief executive Jan Becker said the man was from the Sunshine Coast and had worked at the company for three years.

"It's just one of those things," she said.

Mrs Becker said staff and trainees were receiving counselling.

Energex pilot John Hodges said the blades were moving between 20 and 30 revolutions a minute when the accident occurred.

"He was lucky the blades were moving relatively slow," he said.

"Had they been going at full speed it would have been all over for him."

DF.

[paul abersynth]

Do we have a name for the pilot?

PA

[robsrich]

On behalf of the HAA, and fellow helicopter industry members we all wish the pilot a speedy recovery.

Our thoughts are with the operator, families and other people who were involved.

A special thankyou to John Hodges for his excellent media interview where he explained the "Golden Hour", a feature of HEMS planning.

Names will be released later today.

Rob Rich
President
HAA

[griffinblack]

I really don’t understand why it is so fashionable to leave the controls while the blades are still turning. In my experience remaining at the controls until the blades have stopped ensures no possibility of aircraft damage due to blade sailing and no risk of injury – rather a win - win situation. Its not “just one of those things” as was quoted above in another post, but an issue of flight discipline and airmanship.

[SASless]

"It's just one of those things," she said. :{

[TheFlyingSquirrel]

May this be a lesson to everyone ! Those 269 blades can flap like crazy in gusts at low RPM - I've seen it ! Let's hope he gets well soon - you can't keep a good pilot down !

TFS

[last third]

g black,

good call. Can't undertstand what the hurry is to leave an aircraft while the control surfaces are still generating bernoulies. The 5 mins or so it may or may not save you can be well eroded by the cost of blades contacting the airframe (sailing) or contacting your scon.

Seriously what is the advantage?

:eek:

[Ewe Turn]

"it's just one of those things" is the quote allegedly attributed to Jan Becker.

Coming from the owner of a training organisation that is simply a shocking thing to say. I will refrain from further comment.

My best wishes to the pilot concerned for a speedy recovery.

[Ned-Air2Air]

Driptray - Fair comment and have deleted it.

[Driptray]

Cheers Ned,
Likewise

Driptray

[muffin]

The 5 mins or so it may or may not save you can be well eroded by the cost of blades contacting the airframe (sailing) or contacting your scon.

Pardon my ignorance, but if you are sitting in the aircraft and your blade starts to sail, what can you do about it? Your reaction time plus the rotor brake actuation time will be too slow I think.

[The Nr Fairy]

Sans rotorbrake, there's not a lot you can do about it hitting the airframe. If it's fitted, the rotorbrake reduces the time available for a sailing blade to contact the boom or other parts.

But given the choice of a potential knock on the head, and staying strapped in for a few more minutes, I'll take the latter.

[muffin]

Yes Nr, I quite agree regarding not getting hit on the head. I always wait until things stop spinning before getting out. I was therefore surprised to see at Helitech last week a very well known and vastly experienced examiner land on the airside of the wire fence and jump out of the aircraft into the crew bus while the blades were still rotating quite fast. A bit of "do as I say not as I do" methinks.

However, I was sitting in a R22 a couple of weeks ago and running down in a gusty wind. The engine was off and the blades maybe doing 1 or 2 revs per second. I was watching the forward blade dipping sharply as it came round and wondering if I should or indeed could do anything about it. The collective was full down of course so I couldn't have any less pitch, so I pulled harder than normal on the brake and hoped for the best. Just made me wonder about it though.

[Westaussielame]

The family of the pilot injured wishes to thank those who have expressed kind thoughts to him and to thank the Energex crew and Jan and Mike for their quick actions and expertise in getting the best possible care to him.He is currently doing as well as can be expected given the extent of his injuries but has along road to recovery ahead.
Brendon

[gadgetguru]

firstly: here's hoping the pliot recovers OK :ok:

Police said he had shutdown the chopper, removed his helmet and was walking away when he was hit on the head by the slow moving main blades.
if you go to the trouble of wearing a helmet in the Queensland heat (I realise a lot of training establishments don't) then whilst still under the rotor disk raise your arms & lift the helmet off your scone...yet higher still....then walk out from under a slow spinning disc.....:sad:

perhaps a momentary lapse of complacency of an otherwise safe pilot...or a bad habit that's finally caught up with him :uhoh:

personally I don't enjoy being around near the disc unless I'm in the cockpit, (must be those strike videos haunting me), certainly I limit movements beneath the disc, particularly at low R/RPM - maybe I'm just paranoid

couldn't think of a worse thing to happen though :(

[griffinblack]

What can you do when the blades start sailing? Quite a bit actually. You fly the blades to keep the disc horizontal – the cyclic position is not the issue, it is the plane of the disc that is maintained using the cyclic. I don’t know anything about the Robo, but this technique is used in the Huey and Kiowa. As for rotor brakes, in my experience (limited Blackhawk, quite a bit of Squirrel) the brake is very effective and provided you apply early (within limits), are within engine shutdown wind limits – I have never come close to a problem.

[helmet fire]

Who ever you are - I wish you a speedy recovery.
Good luck mate,
hf

[Westaussielame]

For those who have not seen the press the pilot was Lester Chambers of Noosa.Students and colleages and freinds seeking info on Lester please refrain from contacting the ICU at Royal Brisbane as they have had a large number of queries regarding him.You are welcome to PM myself (his son) or contact Beckers.
Thanks to all for many offers of support and concern for Lester.
Will post further as appropriate (His condition has not changed)
Brendon

[B Sousa]

Sad for sure specially when one has been around for a while. I have had one on my aircraft and seen another one. Both subjects had many years around Helicopters. Best causation factor seems to be that old word Complacency.

[TheMonk]

I wish him speedy recovery. We all make mistakes, at least it wasn't 100%NR.

[voodoo2]

I hope he will recover and get back flying.

We had an incident a while back in our company when one of the blades of the B222 flaped down and hit a baggecart at about 1 meter above ground. The wind was about 50 kts and the helicopter was parked close to a building. Luckely the groundhandler who rolled up the cart to the aircraft narrowly escaped.

[Heliport]

Extract from Newscom.au report Chopper pilot floored by spinning rotor
05-10-2005

A HELICOPTER pilot was left with critical head injuries after he walked into an overhead rotor blade on the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

Flight instructor Lester Chambers, 58, had just landed the Hughes 300 helicopter at the Sunshine Coast Airport at Mudjimba when the accident happened.

Intensive care paramedic Tony Smith said Mr Chambers received serious "pretty significant" head injuries, including a compound fracture of the skull.

Seconds before the accident, another employee reportedly saw Mr Chambers remove his helmet. The blades were believed to have been spinning at about 20 rotations a minute when Mr Chambers was struck.

Despite his horrific injuries, Mr Chambers was able to communicate with paramedics during his emergency flight to Brisbane.

By the time the Energex Rescue Helicopter arrived at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, the critically ill Mr Chambers had lost consciousness.

A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Chambers had undergone surgery and was in the intensive care unit last night.

Mr Chambers had just celebrated flying 11,000 hours and was a senior grade 1 flight instructor.
He had recently accepted a dream job and had been preparing to go overseas to work with the Australian Federal Police in the Solomon Islands.

Paramedics were on scene within three minutes. The Energex Community Rescue Helicopter is based nearby.

Mr Chambers's son was on his way from Perth.

Police Inspector Tony Lewis said it was likely the Civil Aviation Safety Authority would take charge of the investigation.

[DBChopper]

Best wishes, Lester and family, for a speedy recovery.

Let's wrap things up with the Hindsight Police for now guys, accept the situation as a horrible accident, learn from it and wish him well.

:ok:

[deeper]

Just to clear the up the misconception that Lester walked away from the 300 with the blades spinning leaving it unattended and was complacent.
There was somebody at the controls, there was very little wind and he was struck well in from the tip.
This is a very sad event for all and a very unfortunate accident.

[Westaussielame]

Hi All
Lester continues to make a slow but steady recovery and although he has yet to recover consiousness he is showing some promising signs but has along way to go before he is out of the woods.
Once again thanks to all for their offers of support and good wishes to lester.
Lesters family

[Westaussielame]

Hi All .
Lesters condition is improving and will leave ICU tommorow starting to get some awareness back and able move fingers etc.Given extent of injury Drs happy with progress
brendon

[13speed]

Thanks Brendon,
Great news, keep posting, there are a lot of Lester's "one talks" out there who are following this thread and are hoping for the best outcome.
If he is still in Brisbane next month I will try and catch up

[Westaussielame]

Hi all ,
Unfortunately Lester has been fighting an infection for the last few days and is back on the respirator and has lost some of the awareness he regained .The doctors are trying to pin down source of infection with out luck so far and trying differrent antibiotics to combat it.
will post as soon as he improves .
Brendon

[helmet fire]

WAlame, I am wishing all the best to Lester, you, and your family.
I wish you good luck and lots of strength.

[Westaussielame]

Hi All,
Lester has unfortunately picked up a meningitis infection in his brain and was running very hi temps.He underwent an operation on his brain last night to remove an infected abcess and has come through OK although it will be some time before we know what the implications of this will be on his recovery.He remains under sedation whilst he undergoes further scans.
Thanks to his PNG One Talks for thier emails of support for Lester.
They can contact me at [email protected] if they wish to get further info.
Thanks again.
Brendon and Kent

[Heliport]

Thanks for keeping us updated on your father's progess - very sorry to read news of a setback this time.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Heliport
Moderator

[Westaussielame]

Hi All,
I am sad to report that Lester has suffered further damage from the infection which is now under control and the outlook in the long term for him is very grim although he is quite stable at the moment and will go to a ward shortly.
He is no longer responding to stimuli as he was previously and the doctors are very pessemistic at this time that he make any sort of recovery although they have not given up on him yet.

The above information is for the freinds of Lester and industry only and the Family does not wish it to be reproduced in the local media.
Thanks Brendon

[burger]

Hey Deeper, sounds as though you are hinting at ulterior motives. Care to shead a bit more light????????//

[dude65]

Brendon

I've been following this for the last couple of weeks.

My best wishes go to your dad and your family. It makes one realise how fickle working with machines of this nature can be.

Chin up mate & hope your old man fights the good fight

[Spacer]

Being a fellow aviator, I'm saddened to hear about this, and I wish Lester a speedy recovery, and for his family to know that many people are praying for him :(

[Westaussielame]

Hi All,
Lesters condition continues to be stable but he is still unresponsive to any stimuli for all intents and purposes.He appears to be over the worst of the infection but shows no signs of improvement.
Thanks to all for their continued support of Lester.
Brendon

[Westaussielame]

Hi All,
Lesters family had a meeting with the medical team treating him today and were advised that he will be transferred to a nursing home in the near future.
Unfortunately Lesters condition is now worse than originally thought due to a stroke that occured in his brain stem most likely whilst he was fighting the infection he suffered.
This has very serious implications for his recovery (if any) and the most likely outcome is he will die of complications due to his continued time spent in a coma like condition.
We hope to bring Lester back to Western Australia in the near future to be with his family. We will advise when this is about to occur so his Queensland based coleagues and friends can say goodbye if they wish.

Brendon

[ConwayB]

Brendon,

I don't know you or your dad, but please allow me to extend my sympathy and best wishes for you and yours.

I am sure I speak for all those out there who have been following your dad's progress with interest but who, because they don't know you or your family, have been reluctant to post.

Good luck,

Conway Bown

[Westaussielame]

Cheers much appreciated CONWAYB.

[chopski]

Hi Brendon,

As a former student i would like to wish your family and Lester all the best and hope that Lester's situation improves!!

A nice kind man who never said a bad word about anyone!( well apart from my lack of effort in his theory classes!)

All the best to you, Lester and your family.

[Westaussielame]

Thanks mate .
I know lester got a huge amount of pleasure from teaching theory and instructing .
were you one of the "No Lester"course members?
Best of luck for your career Chopski.
Brendon

[chopski]

Hi Again,

Nah i wasn't one of those guys, i'm not really sure who they were, i had pretty much finished all my theory by the time Lester arrived.

Again, best wishes for the future for all of you.:)

[Westaussielame]

Hi all.
Still no change in lesters condition.He remains deeply unconscious and is awaiting a bed in a nursing home.
His family is currently trying to get lester transferred to Perth where they live so they can be with him but as each state has its own health system and workcover insurance its a logistical nightmare to organise and we are not even sure it will happen yet.
Thanks again to those who continue to contact me to offer their support to lester.
Brendon

[Westaussielame]

Hi all.
Lester will be transferred to Nambour Hospital on the Sunshine Coast tommorow.His condition has not changed as far as recovering from his head injury is concerned ,still deeply unconscious . He has picked up pneumonia but is expected to overcome it.
Brendon

[Westaussielame]

Its my sad duty to report that Lester died from complications to injuries he received from his accident at Nambour Hospital at approx 11.30pm this evening the 21st Dec.
His family would like thank all who offered their support during the period he was hospitalised.
I will post details off funeral arrangements and for his wake as soon as they are made.They will be held in Noosa.
Brendon and Kent Chambers

[FlightOops]

As an ex-student of a Maroochydore heli school, I have been watching this thread develop.

Having lost 3 friends and colleagues to a tragic accident a couple of years ago, I am constantly reminded of the pain of the loss and would like to extend the fratenal hand of the industry to you.

My deepest sympathies to those associated with this tragic accident.

[Heliport]

Very sorry to hear your sad news.

My deepest sympathy to you and your family on your tragic loss.


Heliport

[Westaussielame]

Lester Chambers the pilot who was struck on the head by a rotorblade at Majimba airport on Oct 4 succumed to his injuries last night at Nambour Hospital on the sunshine coast Qld.
He only recovered a small amount of awareness before he suffered a number of complications that has left him deeply unconscious for the last few months.
Lester first entered aviation as a boy entrant at age 15 to the RNZAF as a Airframe fitter where he served 15 years with his last squadron being 75 squadron working on A4 skyhawks.
After leaving the RNZAF he joined Mountain Helicopters a venison recovery outfit in Greymouth NZ as a LAME on helicopters and fixed wings and gained his commercial pilots licence there before taking up a position with Helimuster at Victoria River Downs in Australias Northern Territory where he worked as an engineer pilot for about 18 mths before moving onto Central Australian Helicopters in Alice springs to continue mustering.In the mid eighties he flew jetrangers for a number WA based operators including Merifield and Westcoast helicopters primarily on mineral exploration.He then moved to PNG with AVDEV first in Port Moresby and later in Vanimo.After this he joined Pacific where he would stay for the next 15 or so years progressing through to Bell 212 IFR captain.He left the industry for a couple of years to live Ireland and restarted his career with Beckers at Majimba 2 years ago as a ground instructer before gaining an instructers rating and shortly before his accident a grade 1 FI rating.at the time of his accident he was wating to commence with Hevilift in the Solomon islands as their check and train captain and had logged over 11 000 hrs across 10 different types of helicopter.
Lester is survived by 2 sons and 2 grandsons.
A funeral service and wake will be held in Noosa in the next few days I will post details once arrangements are confirmed.
Thanks to all in the industry for their support during lesters illness.

The above info is for Lesters freinds and colleages and the family requests it not be reproduced in the media without prior permission.
thanks to all
Brendon and Kent

[Westaussielame]

Good morning all.
Lesters funeral will be held at the Drysdale Funerals chappel located on Noosa-Cooroy road Tewantin Qld at 2.00 pm on Tuesday 27th December .a wake will be held for family and freinds at the Noosa Yacht club after the service.
Brendon

[TheMonk]

My condolences to you and your family.

[ShyTorque]

My very sincere condolences too.

A salutary lesson in how fragile our lives really are, especially when we get involved in aviation.

As my Chief Pilot said recently: "Never forget, we are all living on borrowed time".

Be careful with your share of it and never take anything for granted.