Mechanic fatality Orlando (Merged)

[widgeon]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/southwest/orl-mcoptercrash1806feb18,0,4169347.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-swest

A strange story any more details out there ?

[Aesir]

Bergen said the FAA will not send investigators to the airport because the helicopter was not in flight or intended to be in flight at the time of the accident.


Pretty unlikely that the "rotor broke loose" if the FAA are not going to investigate! Seems that this was a case of him walking into turning rotor?

[PPRUNE FAN#1]

The U.S. FAA is goofy. If flight was not intended, e.g. if it was only a "maintenance run" then the FAA wouldn't care if the thing destroyed itself on the ground. If you don't intend to fly, it's just a lawnmower. But get in with the intention of going flying...now we're talking aircraft!

[Gordy]

My sincere condolences to the family, and to the company.
This is second/third hand info from someone who was there.....Obviously this is not an official report.
The aircraft was run up for track and balance on the ground, the intent was NOT to fly on this run-up. The aircraft got into ground resonance, started shaking badly, and the mechanic jumped out to run away and was struck by a blade. I do not know if the mechanic shut down the engine first or not, or if the blade had detached from the aircraft.
The regulations state in part "Aircraft accident means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight". Therefore, technically the NTSB would not be involved.
Sections of NTSB 830 Accident reporting (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=49&PART=830&SECTION=2&TYPE=TEXT)

[mickjoebill]

The aircraft got into ground resonance, started shaking badly, and the mechanic jumped out to run away and was struck by a blade.
Sections of NTSB 830 Accident reporting (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=49&PART=830&SECTION=2&TYPE=TEXT)

A terrible event.

Not wishing to refer to this case directly, have I missed something or are there circumstances where it is prudent to dodge under turning rotors rather than stay inside in an emergency?


Mickjoebill

[mikelimapapa]

http://www.local6.com/news/7161489/detail.html


I don't think this has been posted yet, happened this past Friday. Thought to be ground resonance, apparently he unbuckled his seat belt and was trying to get out. Sad story.

[Teefor Gage]

Although I have the deepest sympathy for the family and loved ones of the poor mechanic in this thread, am I missing something about FAA rules? I know that fixed-wing mechanics can conduct enginer ground runs, but does the FAA permit mechanics to perform rotors-engaged ground runs on helicopters?
Not surprised to hear that the FAA will not be invstigating it though as they have strange interpretations of all sorts of "accidents" to ensure that their statistics dont appear as bad as they really should be.

[SASless]

Witnesses said worker Kevin Connolly was performing a test on the helicopter at the airport at 3:30 p.m. Friday when the chopper began to shudder.

Connolly was then thrown from the pilot's seat through the front windshield and struck by the rotating blades, according to the report.

Mechanics can do ground runs after being properly trained and certified for those procedures. General rule is all controls neutral and collective fully down....but varies by company.

[Teefor Gage]

Mechanics can do ground runs after being properly trained and certified for those procedures.

SASless, thanks for the clarification. Only question here is, how much training should a mechanic have to carry out such procedures? If a helicopter develops ground resonance, as has been suggested in this case, there are generally only two ways to cancel it out - shut down or lift off, dependant on where you are in the rpm band etc. I doubt if any mechanic would receive sufficient training to do the latter, so kind of limits the options.......

[B Sousa]

General rule is all controls neutral and collective fully down
Pretty hard to get it to beat itself to death under those conditions. Maybe a little pitch pulled.??
I do remember the TH-55 was notorius for this problem.....Same Aircraft just a little later in history.......
What do you think Sasless?

Just talked with a Pilot/Mech who has done work on them. He said flat pitch etc. wont matter if the Oleo Struts are not perfect. The thing eats itself rather quickly. Glad I started off in OH-23s.

[SASless]

Have no idea what happened Bert....the Hughes is known to throw a wobbly now and then....usually during a rough landing with a sharp lateral input which could provide for an angular out of balance condition that the dampers had problem correcting.

This thing in Orlando is under investigation....at some point there will be an answer hopefully.

Condolences to the family and friends. Just another reminder how close to the call we can be.

[Heli-kiwi]

We do Ground runs on 300s and when the rotors are spinning you are buckled in and prepared to fly wether you intend to or not (hence we must have a pilots licence) for the reason of possible ground resonance especially on a concrete pad. Its unfortunate that the engineer was not prepared to fly as it may have saved his life...................I guess others can learn from this.

[nigelh]

I have experienced first hand in a 269a at Houston Airport, the aircraft was bucking like a bronco within 2 seconds...2 seconds later the blades were through cockpit ( convertible !!) and chopped top off console and chopped tail off, then flipped upsde down and finally chopped through fuel tank and exploded, nothing left except charred remains on floor....me!! If you do not recognise the slow bowncy vibration building up it is too late to lift off as there will already be serious damage to the head etc much better to chop throttle...or better still land on grass!!!! All in all not a good machine for anyone to groung run unless they are competent pilot. Very sad.

[vaqueroaero]

My condolences to his friends and family.

A friend of mine was involved in an accident a few years ago during shut down. When he reduced the throttle to 2000 rpm during the cool down period that was sufficient to set off ground resonance. In the ensuing investigation afterwards it was determined that one of the oleo dampers had been rebuilt incorrectly after maintenance.

The other case I know of involved sheer stupidity. A one man band had his aircraft grounded while maintenace was carried out on the oleos. A call came in for him to do a job. Instead of refusing the job he replaced the removed oleos with pieces of wood. The result? Pretty obvious. I suppose almost a contender for a Darwin award.

[Ferrit]

I have been told by old 269 mech and drivers and found out for myself that if one of the oleos is not up to pressure the thing turns into a wild beast on the ground if any resonance is induced in any way what so ever I was lucky I could yank it off the hard stand.:eek: