PHI Nearly Loses Another S-76

[SASless]

Things kinda quiet in the GOM about the near loss of a PHI S-76 with ten people aboard.

Landed short on a Deck, folded the starboard main gear and ended with the port side main gear on the wire netting.

The photos are startling!

Aircraft tail number was N729P.....and no FAA Preliminary Report seen at the FAA web site.

Anyone got more information on this one?

The accident happened on the Apache ST-308 on the 24th of this month.

[unstable load]

Any chance of seeing some pics, then?

[helimutt]

yes, you can't say something like that to us 76 drivers and not post pics.


:uhoh:

[rjsquirrel]

I saw the pics, sitting on the belly, probably quite flyable again.

pics at:

2 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36874290@N06/3395843570/)

1 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36874290@N06/3395837542/)

[Phil77]

ooops! :uhoh:

...no need to post pics of the seat-cushions this time! :ooh:

[Geoffersincornwall]

Well JimL, here's another cove who hasn't read the ICAO guide to the proper use of deck aiming circles.

G :}

[SASless]

Aiming Circles? We don't need no stinking Aiming Circles!:rolleyes:

Mind you there was no mention of an engine failure or anything....perhaps a bit of near sightedness?

[bb in ca]

Wow!

That scares the hell out of me just looking at it never mind being strapped inside it.

I wonder who got out first and how that conversation went?

[alouette]

NO ****!!! Somebody just had incredible luck...:ouch:

[zalt]

Talk of turbulence and junior crew making a low approach...

I take it no NTSB involvement.

[gulliBell]

The pilot was Maxwell Smart (Secret Agent 86), explained shortly after by a shoe 'phone call to the Chief of Control: "Sorry about that Chief, missed it by THAT much". :O

Seriously, anyone know if the blades made contact with the deck under power? If so I then the repair bill would be a lifetime of pilot pay checks.

[Gomer Pylot]

How could that happen? Easy enough, if you're used to flying 407s and you land it where you would land a 407. The S76 is just a little larger than a 407, and the main gear is just a little further aft than the rear of a 407's skid...
:}

As for aiming circles, Apache wastes no money on unnecessary paint, or on anything else.

[ppheli]

N729P is a Beech 36, and the pix doesn't look like one of those ;)

[kristymark]

Is this a substitute for the CAP 437 perimiter safety net DROP TEST!:8

[HOGE]

A good reason for putting the heavier passengers towards the front!

[Capt. Phuong]

Hi!
I think thi type of the aircraft have problem with the power. I am flying on the EC-155B with that problem also. the power some time not strong enought! so wen the aircraft on profile to land, it request very strickly to use the power. specially in the hot temperature erea.

[floatsarmed]

Who knows what happened here but either way judging from the safety of the armchair next to the hindsight couch, the aircraft is about 2-3 feet from toppling over backwards. Glad to hear no one got seriously hurt this time. :)

[Geoffersincornwall]

Looks like a dry run for a US version of The Italian Job..............

voice of Michael Caine - Don't worry boys..... I've got a great idea...

;)

[SASless]

What is this "Flat Approach" profile used by PHI I am hearing about?

Why would one want to do a "Flat" approach?

Is not a steep approach with a slow forward airspeed with power carried throughout the approach better than a run in at speed and trying to time a flare type landing?

Where do we draw the line between a "Flat Approach" and "Hot Dogging" ?

[Gomer Pylot]

I think 792P would be the correct N number. SASless may be slightly dyslexic. ;)

Some people like flatter approaches, some like steeper. Having seen the results of flat approaches over the years, I prefer steeper. I wasn't present on this approach, so I have no idea what the approach angle was. I do know that this isn't the first time a PHI S76 has put the main gear in the fence, though. Power was not likely the problem in this case. The S76A++ has the engines of a C, but the max gross weight of an A, and thus lots of power available. It may have the best power/weight ratio of any S76 variant, and I've never come close to running out of power in one, even in the summer.

[Phone Wind]

It may have the best power/weight ratio of any S76 variant, and I've never come close to running out of power in one, even in the summer. hahahahahaha :}

You've obviously never flown the C+ or the B then.

[SASless]

Hey.....I got some the numbers right!

At least I recognized it as being a PHI aircraft....thought it might have been an RAF SAR Sea King for a few minutes till I remembered they don't fly yellow helicopters in the GOM.

I don't reckon Sikorsky put out Performance Charts for all the various types thus it being easy to "run out of power"?

Probably some of that ol' Boudreaux mindset of fill'er up, climb in, "We're outta here!" thinking common to the GOM.

[gwelo shamwari]

looking at the pictures it looks like that 76 still has the acrylic windshields?? I know at Bristow (Airdog)... who have the stretched acrylic not cast acrylic windshields.. the have imposed a 110kt vne until they can be replaced with glass. Does this mean PHI are still using acrylic windshields?

Besides that it looks as if they tried park on the very corner of the helideck... and if they did not plan on landing there it must have been one hell of a flat approach... where was the two brains thinking on this one...

[griffothefog]

If you fly consistent "rugby ball" approaches at night, you should get it just about right. (Sorry DOUBLE BOGEY I cannot say CTB). So why wouldn't you fly the same or similar approach during the day?
The only guy's that I have seen flying flat, fast and non standard approaches have invariably been guy's that have been flying single pilot for years in the Gulf of Mexico or the Arabian gulf and have recently gone 2 crew and refuse to change their attitude (excuse the pun) until on a line check with someone who may point out the error of their ways!!:=

There may be an argument for non standard approaches to certain decks being out of wind or with flare booms etc, but other wise why change a safe and proven profile. (And by the way, there was also never or few recorded over torques before 2 crew ops in the last offshore company I worked for). Saw plenty when we went two's up :E

My thoughts on standard offshore procedures as I was taught and in no way a reflection on what may or may not have occured in this unfortunate incident. Best wishes to the crew involved :ok:

[Revolutionary]

SAS, who are your friends at PHI? Where do you get these nuggets?!?

There is no such thing as a 'flat approach' profile being used/taught/authorized/condoned by PHI in the S76. It's all strictly standard offshore approach type stuff, this incident or the non-SOP techniques of individual pilots notwithstanding.

You know, some of us actually work at this company while you, on the other hand, float around in a boat.

[DOUBLE BOGEY]

I think the stupidity of doing a flat fast approach (cos there ain't enough power to do a stable decelerative sight picture approach) beggars belief.

JAR-OPS requires the helicopter to be operated at an AEO HOGE mass to prevent this kind of "Cowboy" flying having to be done.

SAS - Do U/S regulations demand a similar thrust margin for Offshore exposed approaches??

Not saying that in this case thats what the crew did, there may be a good reason they have ended in a drop-short. Just a general comment.

DB

[SASless]

Rev,

I lived to retire and float around in a boat...and never had a chargeable incident or accident. That considering how long I flew helicopters and the places I flew them speaks for my basis for making some of the observations I do.

The PHI and the GOM mentality in general is quite different than the entire rest of the world which also speaks for itself.

Things are changing in the GOM but only long after the rest of the world moved on.

I hate to burst yer bubble but PHI does not have the monopoly on how to fly helicopters......not by a long shot.

There are some very qualified and experienced pilots working for PHI but unless you have a change of scenery now and then you cannot appreciate the difference.

As I heard told in an Arabian Gulf company.....a pilot was asked by the Chief Pilot at the dinner table one time...."You ever work for PHI?"

The response was "Not until I came here!"

Perhaps you might take a visit to Aberdeen and see for yourself what I mean about there being at least one other way of flying helicopters.

You would get your eyes opened and be the better for it!

Perhaps you can get someone to invite you over and show you around.

Better yet....approach PHI and see if they will organize an exchange program with a view towards researching "Industry Best Practices" and incorporating them into the GOM operations.

[FrustratedFormerFlie]

You mean like this?

s4H1_JZnL0E

(I'm amazed the cameraman hadn't run for cover!)
:}

[SASless]

Actually, more like this I would suggest!

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[JohnDixson]

It never made it to You Tube, but somewhere there is a video of what looks to be the quintessential, perfect, by-the-book approach to a rooftop helipad in an executive S-76. A sunny day with a slight breeze.The heading doesn't twitch a hair, the pitch attitude and roll attitudes are rock solid. The slow-down flare is gentle as one should expect in such an environment. All looks in order.

And it was until the pilot hit the edge of the roof with his tail boom. It was the UTC Building and the UTC S-76. I never did hear even a "creative" account of how it happened.

It did have a bit of a special meaning for Nick Lappos and I because we had campaigned rather hard for an improvement to forward visibility during the initial stages of the flight test program in 1977. We had been unsuccessful and Nick's eloquence and my single-mindedness had nothing to show for it. (The original front end lower glass looked very different than it does today).

Then we heard that the SA President, Gerry Tobias, was coming down to West Palm and wanted to fly in 'his" helicopter. I write "his" because Gerry had gone to bat for that machine and it bore a lot of his input.

What to do? Well, I had a typical GOM helipad painted on the runway using a healthy quantity of very white paint. Then, at the end of Gerry's familiarization flight ( and I had put him in the right seat by the way ), which up to that point had gone perfectly for him, I shot a few approaches to that helipad, and asked him in advance to tell me one thing and to call it out: when did he lose sight of the helipad?

You can guess what happened: by the time we had shot four approaches he was all charged up. I hadn't had to say anything; Gerry had figured it all out. So he got out and all of the ranking VP's were there asking about the ship and he waxed effusively about it for sometime, until he changed the subject to visibility. One of the VP's said that the subject was under review and that he would be advising him shortly on what they would be doing.

Gerry looked around and asked for a felt tip pen, turned to the VP with that pen in hand and said, " I'll show you what we're going to do", and drew the present lower plexiglass lines on that prototype. "Thats what we're going to do", he said, "and I'd like to see the design next week". I recall with clarity that two of the VP's turned their heads toward me and Nick, and their looks displayed more than passing displeasure.

But you still have to pay attention when you are landing.

John Dixson

[HOGE]

Long ago, or rather, 8+ years ago when I was on the North Sea, I favoured a steepish power-on low ROD approach. I figured that if I were to lose an engine, at least I'd make it onto the deck.

[The Governor]

I think landing on the fwd edge of the deck at high speed and then taxiing backwards on the rear wheels shows the passengers how brave and highly skilled the pilot must be. The most important thing here is looking good.

No, seriously, steep and steady all the way hey hey to the front of the circle for me.

Though I was once asked by a Capt if I had seen how they did low approach runs into a hot LZ in 'Nam. As I was 3 when it all ended in 'Nam I said not but I would love to see. The Cap then showed me how it's done. 10ft radalt at full tilt to the last second then aft cyclic and straight up 100ft and onto the deck, finally a big heave ho to level the aircraft dead centre on the circle. Certainly suprised the HLO on the deck edge.

[Revolutionary]

SAS old boy godspeed and fair winds and all that on your well-deserved retirement gig navigating a boat around exotic, palm-lined islands; I'm more than a little envious. Your experience and knowledge are beyond reproach and have served you well during a long, accident free career -as you pointed out. Your expertise on everything from Altimeters to Zulu Time is much valued by all here on Pprune. You are truly one of the Wise Old Men of this board.

But when it comes to the inner workings of PHI your firsthand experience is nada, zilch, zero.

[Gomer Pylot]

When people are shooting real bullets at you, you tend to do things a little differently than you would when there are paying customers involved but no bullets. When you're doing the non-standard maneuvers, you either learn to control the aircraft precisely, or you don't.

[Nigel Osborn]

I hope they find the 76 had a mechanical problem otherwise I feel sorry for the pilot when he tries to explain what happened.:{

[Red Wine]

Did you train him Old Fella....?

[SASless]

Rumour has it that a either a bit of turbulence or a sudden massive increase in the surface magnetism of the rig got him!

[chester2005]

Now I heard it was a glinch in the Earth's ugliness repelling strength.

Quote "helicopters don't fly , they are just so ugly the Earth repels them"

Chester:ok:

[Nigel Osborn]

Red Wine

If I had, it wouldn't have happened!:ok:

P.S. Wish I could work out who you are!!:confused:

[helimutt]

The Governor taught me well when it came to deck landings in a '76, but, it's nice I can now repay that and teach him how to win at poker. :E

[SASless]

Who ever said flying lessons came cheap!

[The Governor]

Mutt,

That is outrageous. I carried you through your type rating and your poker game (fold, fold, fold, bluff & fold). It's time you stood on your own two feet!!

Gloves off for round 2...

[Gabra1]

Years ago when we were operating Puma 330Js to rigs in the South China Sea, one of our pilots would always complain of an unexplained sudden loss of power on approach to a certain helideck. It turned out that when the wind was blowing from a certain direction, the helideck would be smack downwind of 3 big turbine exhausts. We did a plume study and discovered that the exhaust gases caused the temperature above the helideck to be up to 10 degrees hotter when the wind was from a certain sector.

I was just wondering if this may be the case in the GoM incident too.

[flyingchief]

someone said: "The S76A++ has the engines of a C, but the max gross weight of an A, and thus lots of power available. It may have the best power/weight ratio of any S76 variant, and I've never come close to running out of power in one, even in the summer"....

a) the 76 a++s I flew, sweated like a whore in church in summer time, when flying it in GOM and you need to be well aware of what you're doing and where you're going or your feet will get wet....I personally haven't seen all this power available you were mantioning!!!!
b) PHI loves steep approaches, at least with a++'s!!! they fly it almost on the upper side of the dead man curve if you will.....better fat and slow than skinny and fast when you work off shore...agree?...within reasons...
c) **** happens...yes crew coordination, experience, good stickness and ops manual, will definitely help you to stay dry but lets not forget the conditions in GOM sometimes and specifically, (792P sounds to me like apache 2 or 3) some pilot tend to undervalue some type of sorties, just because they're considered of minor intrest and stationed in "bad locations" (fourchon)...so, HF or other factors?..da fight is on...

[Old Skool]

If it really was at ST308 on the "Tarantula" then exhaust gases would not be the case, the deck is high and away from any outlets. The only obstructions being a couple of well placed!!! cranes.

[GeorgeMandes]

The FAA prelim turned up yesterday, April 3.

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: N792P Make/Model: SK76 Description: SIKORSKY
Date: 03/24/2009 Time: 1635

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Minor

LOCATION
City: OIL RIG State: LA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED DURING LANDING TO AN OFFSHORE PLATFORM, CREW
REPORTED TURBULENT CONDITIONS DURING THE FINAL STAGE OF LANDING.

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 8 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: UNK

OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: BATON ROUGE, LA (SW03) Entry date: 04/03/2009

[SASless]

Kinda like skipped over the landed short bit.....with a fair bit of forward speed sufficient to fold that main gear!

Already sounds like someone was getting some ducks lined up!

[FH1100 Pilot]

The Training Department at PHI is the best in the business. They try very, very hard to standardize procedures, get everyone to fly alike. A problem that I saw during the 13 years when I was there, and evidently still exists, is that pilots nod and "yes sir" their way through Recurrent, then go out and do it their way in the field. And if "their way" is different from what Training has just tried to pound into their heads, well, too bad.

Helicopter pilots are such renegades. Don't try to deny it!

I can almost guarantee you - in fact I'd put money on it - that PHI does not preach or teach shallow platform approaches, especially in an S-76. But there are still too many guys around with the, "Look, I know what they told you in Training, but this is the way *I'VE* been doing it all these years" attitude.

But no matter whether the approach was shallow or steep, it very obviously ended with one of the mains off the platform, instead of three feet from the edge as the Ops Manual requires. Aim-points are great...unless you put yourself in the center of the aim point and forget that there's still thirty feet of helicopter behind you.

Sh*t happens. Embarassing all around.

[Solar]

Someone once told me that there was a sign in the arrivals office of a California offshore platform that read "We don't care how you did it in the gulf you will do it correctly here".

[SASless]

With the turnover rate in GOM companies in general and PHI in particular....there should not be much "old time thinking" left!

Or do the old farts run off the new kids?

[JimL]

The whole point about aiming marks (touchdown and positioning markers - TD/PM) is that they know and understand about what's in front and what's behind.

No having/using them appears to fly in the face of safety.

One of the reasons for the HAPS profile, is that it protects the pilot from the probability of this type of incident/accident.

Jim

[Brian Abraham]

Many traps abound for the offshore pilot. Have seen, and myself, come to grief landing on a platform due to wind shadow or being caught by a higher deck temperature than expected (Esso Australia couldn't afford temp gauges). Saw a highly respected pilot leave 20 foot skid marks on a deck because he was caught out, the impact was sufficient to lock the inertia reels. No fault of his, was the way business was done.

[FH1100 Pilot]

SASless: With the turnover rate in GOM companies in general and PHI in particular....there should not be much "old time thinking" left!

Or do the old farts run off the new kids?

SAS, the turnover issue at PHI was always with the least-senior pilots. PHI always enjoyed a core group of senior pilots (about half) who'd been there forever and weren't going anywhere but in a pine box. There was a big, ever-widening gap in age between this core group and the younger guys who kept rotating in and out.

Also, PHI always put two very senior pilots in their "big ships." Contrast this to Era, where new-hires are generally installed as SIC for a while. This was always a big selling point for PHI ("Two highly-experienced Captains for your passengers!") but did little to hand down the expertise and knowledge from one generation to the next via mentoring. In fact, at PHI that was almost non-existent. (I understand that it has changed since I've been gone.)

In 2001 (the last year for which I had current figures when I left the company), fully *HALF* of PHI's 530 pilots were age 50 or older. Only a handful (and I mean quite literally only five or six) were over 60. And of those, only two were actual line pilots. This told me that as line pilots, we helicopter guys are pretty much done by age 60, regulations or not.

It also did not take a scientist of rocketry to see that by 2010 or so PHI would have just about lost all of their Viet Nam-era vets.

Consider: If a kid was 21 in Vietnam in 1970, say, that would make him 60 today. Of course, the Army kept cranking out helicopter pilots well into the 1970's. But even if a kid was 21 in 1975, that would still make him 55 now. Tick-tock-tick-tock... (And let's not even talk about the older pilots who've transferred over to more stable EMS jobs just to get away from the horrible GOM lifestyle of being away from home for half your life - which PHI, laughably, thinks is such a benefit.)

The experience is being lost. Not to take anything away from the less senior pilots, but having a guy with a mere 5 years or so of GOM experience as PIC of an S-92 and an SIC with even less than that is not ideal. And it's certainly not what PHI has always enjoyed. But it's going to happen.

The sad thing was that PHI didn't seem to care. When I would try to point it out to them...well, they just didn't want to know. It was never a problem in the past, wasn't right then, and would not be a problem in the future.

We'll see.

Q: So who are flying the PHI big ships now?
A: The very few (and rapidly diminishing) "old timers."

I'd be curious to see the pilot roster at other big companies, to find out just exactly how many pilots are still flying at age 60+. (I certainly don't want to be - I've got seven years to go.)

[SASless]

Turn over is a problem for Air Log as well. The GOM life is not for everyone....as it has many down sides that offset the warm loving management-working staff relationship that was so prevalent for so long.

It makes perfect sense to man two crew helicopters with two senior guys.....yeah right!

The problem is if you put a young whipper snapper in the other seat with the intent to mentor his progress in the business and after he gets his experience in the bigger machine....he bolts for greener pastures then the company loses.

Keep the newbies in the Jetrangers and after a year or so....they bolt for EMS jobs in twins.....the company loses.

Guys get married and start a family....realize they are gone more than half the time and.....they bolt for other pastures.

After a guy wears out the second or third car commuting at his own expense to the job.....and he bolts for other pastures.

In the meanstwhile....the operators brag about the "new trailers" they stick a half dozen guys into. What they ought to do is issue one size tables and chairs....the same for little ship drivers and big ship drivers...at least they would have standardized furniture.

Do they still wear the khaki plumbers uniform with the guys name on a patch over the pocket?

The GOM operators are going to wake up one day and figure out how to retain good people and finally use some of the turnover cost to fund improvements that will cut down on the turnover. That or they will finally run out of new hires and then what?

[This aint Jim Beam]

"Do they still wear the khaki plumbers uniform with the guys name on a patch over the pocket?"

Id quit straight away if i were forced to wear such clothes,disgusting.
How can the pilots be taken seriously?

Other than that the post made alot of sense. Touring is not for everyone and certainly not for ever.

[FH1100 Pilot]

SAS, I agree with nearly everything you said.

Exception: PHI tried to not put more than four guys in the new trailers. Only rarely would they put five. I mean, give them credit, they really tried. (This may all have changed post-Katrina, I don't know. I do know that they were cognizant of those quality-of-life issues and tried very hard to make them better.)

I have heard from guys at RLC that they are stuck 6-to-a-trailer (a single-wide trailer, remember), which is just pathetic in my opinion.

I had discussion with senior PHI management in which they would...super-secret-off-the-record-if-you-ever-repeat-this-I'll-kill-you agree with my contention that GOM pilots should be making *more* than their EMS counterparts.

But you know how that would go over. The union (of which I was a member of the first Negotiating Committee!) and the company would have none of it. "Pilots are pilots."

Well, yes and no.

EMS has always been deemed a "more prestigious" assignment while GOM flyers were considered nothing more than a bunch of bubbas in flying pickemup trucks. To a degree, PHI itself fostered this image - or at least did nothing to dispell it.

Even if nobody is willing to admit it out loud, the GOM lifestyle is a hardship. It is. PHI's attitude has always been, "It's not for everybody," and we can all agree on that because it's true. But it would be "for" more people if the pay/benefits were commensurate with the increased demands of the job. Like I said, those within PHI management who privately recognized this admitted there was little they could do to change the paradigm without upsetting a huge applecart. Their decision was simply to live with the high turnover of GOM pilots.

I honestly believe that PHI thinks they will never run out of new hires.

Era's recent offer of travel pay was a step in the right direction. But more needs to be done.

What does turnover cost? Well, the evidence is that the cost is not a problem for operators. For one thing, training expenses are tax deductible, so the whole training department is a write off. Secondly, the new-hire and recurrent training is FAA-mandated, so there's no getting around having the department to begin with.

We can conclude that "high turnover" is simply not a problem for operators like PHI. If it was, they'd do something about it.

But what are the real costs of high turnover? Inexperienced S-76 pilots who can't even land on a platform without sticking one of the gear legs in the fence? Inept SIC's who can't even find the windshield wiper switch, causing a distraction for the PIC that ends up with a perfectly good S-76 flying into the water? These are horribly embarassing incidents for the company.

They're going to get worse.

[EDIT] To This Ain't Jim Beam: The uniform doesn't make the man. I've always said that I would wear a clown suit - round, red nose...big, floppy shoes and all if the company supplied it. I do not care, and the brown PHI uniform never had any negative influence on how I viewed myself or how I did my job, as it should be with any professional. Pilots who are that concerned with their self-image should probably not go to work for companies like PHI.)

[SASless]

I love the now famous quote by Bob Suggs, founder of PHI......as confirmed by Vern Albert, the PHI Chief Pilot for many years. Taken from a 2005 Interview by HAI.

And yes, Bob Suggs did make the
famous quote: "I can get all the
pilots I need out of the gutters on
Bourbon street," but those words
have been taken out of context.

A story was told.....

Bob was on a recruiting trip to Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

He saw what looked to be a helicopter pilot laying face down in the gutter, covered in once consumed beer and pizza, trousers soaked from wetting himself.

Bob tapped the drunk on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to fly for PHI....to be told...."Piss off Bob....I am on time off!"

[flyer43]

Has anybody considered airflow reversal over the helideck at low level? I encountered this many moons ago whilst approaching a North Sea platform in a Bell 212 at close to max gross weight. In the last 20-30 feet of the steep approach, the rod suddenly increased and the aircraft made a "positive arrival" in the middle of the helideck despite the smart application of full power.
Investigations later on showed that with a 10-15 knot wind from a particular direction, due to the obstructions around and under the deck, including eflux from some turbines, the airflow over the helildeck curled steeply backwards over the downwind side of the helildeck producing a 10-15 knot tailwind in the very last stages of the approach.
Had I been using the low & slow or "fast and furious" technique, the outcome might have been much the same as the one in this thread.
It's not possible from the photos to see whether there is an air-gap under the helideck, but has anybody looked at this aspect?

[loav8r]

I agree with FH Pilot, PHI is a good company and their training dept. is outstanding. I enjoyed my time with them (though short) but for me, it was all about the money. I couldn't afford to support my family on their income flying S-76s. Hopefully they'll be able to get some experience out of their pilots for the future but the new guys (me included) don't have half the time of some of the senior pilots. Someone mentioned before, "tick, tock, tick, tock." Yep, the clock is ticking.

[GeorgeMandes]

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 740PH Make/Model: B407 Description: Bell 407
Date: 03/29/2009 Time: 1900

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Minor

LOCATION
City: LAKE CHARLES State: LA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
N740PH, A BELL 407 ROTORCRAFT, WHILE LANDING ON AN OIL PLATFORM, STRUCK A
FENCE; GULF OF MEXICO, 120 MILES FROM LAKE CHARLES, LA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 3 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: BATON ROUGE, LA (SW03) Entry date: 04/06/2009

[Mars]

Not just PHI:

NTSB Identification: WPR09CA148
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, March 08, 2009 in Long Beach, CA
Aircraft: EUROCOPTER AS350BA, registration: N234AH
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The pilot said he thought that the approach to the helipad seemed and felt normal, but in retrospect was flat. A witness on a passing ship thought that the approach was flat and fast. He indicated that the helicopter was in a nose high attitude when the tail rotor hit the ground between rocks at the waterline and the edge of the pad. The pilot felt a jolt followed by a shutter. Because of the tail rotor damage, the helicopter yawed out of control to the left. It rotated 360 degrees as the pilot lowered the collective. Once completely on the ground, he pulled the fuel flow control lever (FFC) out of the flight gate, pulled the emergency fuel shutoff control, and powered everything down while applying the main rotor brake.