AS350B-2 CRASH AT NEWCASTLE

[[email protected]]

Anybody know anything about the B-2 Squirrel which disintegrated near Newcastle last Friday?

[Hone22]

apparently Not. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .. .cheers&flysafe. .Hone

[Heliport]

Is that. .Newcastle, England. .Newcastle, South Africa. .or. .Newcastle, Australia? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />

[Weight and Balance]

Or maybe Newcastle, Ontario?

[Cyclic Hotline]

Or....... .. .Newcastle, Washington.. .Newcastle, California.. .Newcastle, Wyoming. (Bit out of the way, that one - believe me!) <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> . .. .Probably a Newcastle in every State in the US?. .. .Was there a crash there?. .Interested to know.

[MPT]

G'day all,. .. .Believe it was a locally owned machine and was rolled up on the helipad, MR blades contacted the ground, etc. No details on injuries if any, but sounds a bit like dynamic rollover? Oh yeah, it was Newcastle, NSW, Australia.. .. .Cheers,. .. .MPT

[widgeon]

not forgetting Newcastle county Down , but how new can a castle be , didn;t they stop building em in the middle ages ?.

[Lu Zuckerman]

To: widgeon. .. .Actually, no. The Castle at Fusson, Germany (Neu Schwanstein) was built in the middle 1800s. This is the fairy tale castle that influenced the design of the castle in Disney Land and Disney World.

[Draco]

You pedantic lot. Ever thought of becoming helicopter pilots?

[widgeon]

Yes Lu I have actually walked up to Neuschwanstein and Hoenshwangau ( sp ?) both built I believe by Ludwig the loony of Bavaria , they managed to drown him before he completely depleted the treasury. Well worth the visit as the interiors are as spectacular as the outside. Eurocopter germany are headquartered in Bavaria just to keep on thread LOL.

[alouette]

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> ) That makes you think. Ludwig the Loony and Eurocopter on the same turf. An incredible coincidence!!!

[MPT]

G'day All,. .. .If you lot have all finished with the castle stuff, we can go back to the original question. . .. .It appears that the star "broke" while the B2 was in a 3 ft hover and the machine is apparently a write off with the tail boom broken off and skids spread, etc. Any idea if this has happened before on this model, and is the star the same as on the B and BA?. .. .Cheers,. .. .MPT

[Dynamic Component]

I heard that it is undecided if the aircraft is a write-off.Just glad nobody got hurt.

[CyclicRick]

Ther is a Newcastle in Slovakia aswell!. .Schloß Neueschwanstein was featured in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film, the car autorotated onto a nearby road, bit of a run on but altogether a decent landing methinks.

[Lu Zuckerman]

To: MPT. .. .When you referred to the ‘Star” were you referring to the rotating portion of the swashplate? If you were, I believe there was a periodic inspection program required to check for cracking. In another case the isolation bearing on the swashplate of an A Star froze causing the helicopter to crash with the loss of three people.

[MPT]

G'day Lou,. .. .Sorry don't have any specific info as its all coming to me indirectly through other people (I'm on the other side of the country). Maybe Dynamic Component can fill in some of the details? And I agree, very glad nobody was hurt, it could have been a real nasty one.. .. .Cheers,. .. .MPT

[Dynamic Component]

Lu,. .. .There is a AD on the bush at the end of the starflex(the rotating star that is conected to the flanges,that intern are conected to the blades)that says you should check for delamanation and cracks, but this only affects certain s/n.

[MPT]

G'day All,

ATSB report now out HERE (http://www.atsb.gov.au/aviation/occurs/occurs_detail.cfm?ID=469)

Anyone else come across this sort of thing on the AS350?

Cheers,

MPT

[John Bicker]

On early 350 B's the dreaded DU bush would come unglued and yes you would get close to ground resonance. It was a case of recognition of the onset and carry out the correct action. 1st get back in the air, move to a different surface, place aircraft on the ground and plant it there, do not pussyfoot through to flat pitch a la Lama technique. Wait to see what happens, if the GR symptoms aren't apparent, shutdown, if not, repeat. Do NOT attempt to shutdown if the symptoms are there.

I would guess this is a "Carbide Star" fitting that has come loose. Wouldn't be apparent from the damage after the fact. This has happened plenty of times on very "new" aircraft. There is a lot of factory documentation about this. Hands up who really adheres to the BFF, TA and ALF inspections on this model aircraft? If you don't know what these inspections are and you are flying one, simple remedy, don't continue until you do!