Air Crash Investigations

[22clipper]

Anybody see that Air Crash Investigations program on the TV about the tail rotor lightning strike on the North Sea Puma? Spectacular fireworks when mega amps flowing through carbon fibre meets the metal leading edge strip.

The program's line was that the investigators reckoned that the results had implications for the commercial airline fleet in general that the CAA chose to ignore.


Happy ending for the pilots & their pax though which is more than I can say for most episodes of that show.

[Gordon Bennet]

Yeah, the early days of the Airbus left a lot to be desired. Some day the story will be told....

G

[gadgetguru]

first night I've missed it in ages & they had a RW feature....

bollocks

[MightyGem]

Don't worry, that was a repeat of a repeat, and I'm sure they'll repeat it again, and again. As they do. :rolleyes:

[332mistress]

It was a very good programme and for those that saw it what was the biggest point to learn from the MAYDAY that they gave.................
















GIVE YOUR POSITION - there was confusion over where the a/c had ditched and they were lucky that they got into the dinghy because it took some time to find them!!
332M

[NorthSeaTiger]

What was the programme called and what channel was it on ? Would like to see that programme.

NST

[diginagain]

No you don't, NST. Just do what I do; adopt the brace position all the way, and have a large malt in Spiders when you get back in. :ok:

[NorthSeaTiger]

As long as it's an 18 year old Highland park :ok:

[Shawn Coyle]

"Give your position in a Mayday call"
Why don't we have a feature like General Motors puts in all their cars - (called OnStar). If the airbags deploy, it automatically puts a call in to the ops central with position of the car (from GPS) and says to call the ambulance....
Should be pretty easy to fit to any systems we have on a helicopter - hard landing, ditching, etc.... would automatically transmit the position.

[NorthSeaTiger]

Hmmmn, I believe that is called the ELT transmitter or ADELT fitted to all North Sea machines.

[Hummingfrog]

The ADELT must be the most useless piece of kit fitted to offshore machines.

You ditch - it may or may not go off (only in salt water) it then floats off as its not attached to the aircraft - brilliant.

After the HMCG a/c from Stornoway ditched in the late 80s we found the crew in their dinghy and took them back to Stornoway. We then had to go and find its :mad: ADELT as it was blocking the emergency frequency. It was no where near where they had ditched or where the dinghy had been - tide, wind and current had taken it on its merry way.

HF

[magbreak]

Not sure about the TV's portrail of getting over a tail rotor failure by shutting down the main rotor blades with the graphics showing the 332's blades doing a good 3 rpm in auto. Top job done to get it down and in one piece :ok: only for the recovery boys to make it an insurance write off (or is that in their contract??:O )


Not all the adelts give out the gps position on ditching. We have an ELT fitted to our aircraft that sends out the position from the UNS/ GPS on impact along with an identifier which can be decoded for Aircraft reg, owner and contact telephone numbers from a database. I know the north sea ones were changed to include the 407 frequency but I don't think they give out the position. I standby to be corrected :oh:

[22clipper]

I think what I liked about the episode was the way catastrophes don't go according to the training manual, the jettisoned door that punctured the life raft, the way the wind used the other life raft to block one of the exits, stuff like that.

Every 2 years I get to do practice autos in an R22 as part of the BFR & every time I get a bit more skeptical about that part where I'm suppsed to give the mayday with aircraft type, position & intentions on the way down from a thousand feet!

[Twiddle]

I fly fixed wing and rotary, I'd make a mayday calll in a fixed wing, but at a thousand feet in a 22 I'd be concentrating on the auto, if I get the job done then all's well, if not then the AAIB can figure it out!