Helicopter down in Kynsna

[DynamicRollOver]

Rumour doing the rounds that the surf rescue heli has gone down in Knysna. Can anyone confirm? Any details?

[AirwayBlocker]

From New24.com

Cape Town - A surf rescue helicopter went into the sea 50 metres offshore of the Groot Brakrivier near Mossel Bay at about 13:00 on Tuesday, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
Spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the aircraft ended up in the surf, and all four men on board swam to shore safely and unassisted.
They were taken to hospital as a precaution. The pilot was reported to have minor injuries.
"To our understanding, it may have been an emergency landing," said Lambinon.
It was not immediately clear what led to the incident.
Lambinon said there was "extensive" damage to the helicopter and the Civil Aviation Authority had been contacted to conduct a routine investigation. The helicopter had been removed from the surf.

SAPA

[PAXboy]

From SABC who state that an exercise was taking place:

December 18, 2007, 17:15
A surf rescue helicopter went into the sea 50m offshore of the Groot Brakrivier. The pilot of the helicopter was slightly injured and was taken to hospital, along with the three other passengers, as a precautionary measure. No members of the public were injured in the incident.

Beachgoers, who were watching the simulated rescue exercise, were astounded when the emergency helicopter crashed into the sea. The pilot had been conducting a routine static line hoist.

Divers then retrieved the craft from the water.
(strong divers to recover the machine without winches or flotation devcies :p)

http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/the_parties/0,2172,161112,00.html

[rockpecker]

Happened to the Suiderkruis side of GB river mouth. Looks like it washed up in the surf with the popfloats, then fire brigade guys dragged wreck onto the beach. Fuselage seriously twisted, tailboom off, whole MGB & M/R assy ripped off on impact. Cabin well preserved. A very sad sight indeed, glad no-one injured, although pilot took on a bit of water while still strapped in. About 3 years ago similar incident in the exact same place, also Jetranger, also busy with sea rescue excercise, strong wind from the sea, typical LTE scenario with wind on the critical azimuth??

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg300/rockpecker_photo/18122007005.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg300/rockpecker_photo/18122007010.jpg

[I.R.PIRATE]

Interesting theory, matches up very well with an eyewitness report of the incident.

[Heli-Jet]

Maybe surf rescue should seriously consider a twin engine helicopter

[rockpecker]

or something with more tail rotor authority, twins are $$$$$ to run here

[victor papa]

helijet, interesting comment.

Which twin heli would you propose? What if it had nothing to do with the engine? Who is to absorb the on average 200 USD/hr increase in operating cost or do you propose the older light twins which might be cheaper and hopefully still fly away on one engine:hmm: out of a 50ft hover?Does South African rescue services/operators have the infrastructure and budget? What would be your minimum crew and qualification for the twin's more complex cockpit and system management? What is the pay difference in South Africa between a single engine say 1500-2000hr total heli time and a twin commander?

Having done some research myself, I think you might find the argument a lot more complex than 1/2 engines. The biggest fear I have is having twins but not sufficient budget for enough training as it might just look easier than what it is and we forget the enormous amount of training required:ugh:Let's wait and see what really happened.

[Heli-Jet]

CHC is in George and has SK61's, great for sea rescue

And if the NSRI is cash strapped, when they loose single engine helicopters on an annual basis, here is an altternative.

Military have new helicoptes that could be used in Sea rescue. Instead of sending them on UN missions to the DRC. Charity starts at home.

Remember the fantastic job they did in the 90's of the transkei coast with all the passengers rescued from the cruise ship

VP I guess the answer to all your questions is.

What is more important to the safety aspect of the operation. Remember they say that - if you think training and crewing an aircraft is expensive, try an accident.

[victor papa]

Agree on almost all your points. However, my argument is that 2 engines are not automatically safer. Safety does not only depend on the amount of engines but whether we like it or not on budget, training and for twins lots of experienced crew.

Knowing CHC worldwide, their core business(unless it is a SAR contract) is offshore support. Having done that, it is not just a matter of cancelling a personnel transfer for a rescue or delaying a rig for a rescue and I do not believe they are capable to allocate a 61 for rescue.

Does the military train with the rescue services? I would think there is more involved than just the NSRI.

I must state that I do not believe a 206 to be a good rescue machine because of it's limitations being stretched during rescue. However, you will have to look hard to beat a B3 Squirrel with a twin. That is where the problem comes in with just condemming singles.

[rockpecker]

In the holiday season, patrolling the coast is done by private operators, with privately owned helicopters, often volunteers helping out, there is no real government support. The Sikorsky's are on contract for the petroleum companies, they might help out in big crisis situations, but on the whole, the surf rescue operation is done with limited resources. Doing what they can, with what they have, and doing a good job considering everything. So, to get highly academic about twins and multicrew ops and training, is losing sight of the reality, those resources simply are not available.

[victor papa]

rockpecker-agree fully.

Reality is reality and you have to ensure safety as far as you can with what you have. My argument was simply that deploying twins without sufficient budget and experienced enough crews can become a bigger safety risk.

[rockpecker]

Exactly. As it is, its for swimmers and surfers, so always VFR. Complex and costly multicrew multiengine ops are inappropriate for this arena, and simply not available. Another take on "a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush"

[Heli-Jet]

Guess the NSRI or whoever donates the use of their 206's cannot be too cash strapped if you keep putting them into the water. So how do the insurance companies cover these crashes.
Would be intersting to find out whether they even pay out