Mishap @ St Mawgan

[snafu]

Just seen some uncomfortable looking shots of a Sea King on its side surrounded by lot of little bits of previously working Crab helicopter!

Glad to hear that the crew got out OK.... speedy recovery guys! ;)

[Big Green Arrow]

Wot happened?

[snafu]

Not sure....the TV report said that the crew were both from the training squadron at St Mawgan and were in the hover during a standard conversion sortie when the accident occurred.

The footage showed the cab lying on its starboard side with lots of wreckage strewn around (mainly the remains of the rotor blades).

[jockspice]

Was that on this morning's tv? Why aren't you watching SMTV like everyone else? :D
Doesn't your little lad like Scooby doo? :D :D

[SARBoy Loser]

The Seaqueen in question fell over during a gh sortie. The crew were ok but the helo is a bit worse off. The worrying thing is it fell out of the sky with the stab off, which means the chief culprit for this sort of accident is out of the loop. As the SAR force is now on 'immediate life saving only' it must be quite serious. Perhaps more worring is the fact that if this happened to any other fleet they'd all be grounded!

:confused:

[Fay Deck]

SARBOY Loser,

You have raised some interesting points and, from your profile, are obviously 'in the know'. Could you clarify a few points? Namely:

1. You mention the stab system is usually the culprit in this sort of accident. To which Sea King accidents are you referring?

2. The seriousness of the accident has resulted in 'immediate life saving only'. What other course of action is open to the SAR boys prior to an initial examination of the ac? Also, is this for RAF Sea Kings only or the RN Sea Kings and/or Bristows S61s?

3. 'Any other fleet would have been grounded'. Again can you supply some examples, particularly of fleets that are on similar readiness to the SAR boys?

Cheers,

Fay

[Tigs]

Sarboy Loser,
Not wishing to speculate, but it sounds like with the stab off the main culprit in most accidents can be ruled in, and that is the pilot. I am not intimating blame but your statement is crap! PS I have heard that it was the new staish on his first solo!! any comments

[SARBoy Loser]

Tigs, thanks for your commemnts, yes it was the new sarforce commander on board, but I've been told he didn't have his hands on the sticks at the time. As for the debate on the stab, well that will be for the board of enquiry to decided, I was just putting my pennies worth in ( and yes I know that is a very small sum!). On the plus side we're back to business as usual, for now. :p

[Tigs]

SARboy loser
Thanks, sorry I sounded a little harsh!

[ 21 August 2001: Message edited by: Tigs ]

[Harry Peacock]

Any details of cause would be most welcome 'downunder' as we're years behind on getting details of SK faults. Yes we've still got some!! (It took three years to catch up with the change in MGB pressure limits) If they need to be a little more secure I'll e-mail.

Glad to hear all are Ok

HP

[rotor tree]

The initial signal is out and apparently there was 'damage inconsistent with the crash' in one of the yaw control components. Of course there were problems with the yaw bell-crank assemblies several years ago, but I don't know if that was the culprit in this case. I hear the ac is provisional CAT 5, in which case that will be the first one in 22 odd years of service.
The crew as stated consisted of the SARFC (desig) and a brand new pilot who only got his wings approx 6 weeks ago! Don't know who was in control at the time, but they were lifting to the hover stab out - a perfectly normal thing to practice on GH sortie. Guess we will have to wait for the rest of the details..... :rolleyes:

[AllyPally]

Rotor Tree.
While you are technically correct that no SAR Seaking has been Cat 5 X?525 was all but written off when it crashed in the Cairngorms after an engine shutdown due to an overspeed after freewheel failure. All that was used in the rebuild was the number!! It had to be "rebuilt" as there was money in the repair budget but none to buy a new a/c. The St Mawgan a/c will probably appear again after repair!
Ally

[Hengist Pod]

No doubt they'll use bits of it on a Puma. If only it was Argentinian.

[Lowkey]

Also, don't forget the one that ditched in the late 80's again it came back flying but with only a few of the original bits. Strangely enough I flew it with one of those who flew it before it ditched and it still appeared to ahve some of the original snags??!!

[Yozzer]

I saw a Puma @ Westlands W-S-Mare that was made up of:

The upper fuselage of the one that George placed carefully at the bottom of the English Channel.

The lower fuselage that Chips rolled and burnt at Gallon Jug.

A tail boom from a third airframe.

I believe that it is now resident on 33 (210??)

Made the ex argie look like new it did. How many Puma`s have not been cat 4.....erm None isnt it? :confused:

[Tigs]

Yozzer

Just for your info, 215 which went for the swim is still fizzing away in the hanger at westlands, and the tailboom of 210 is still there. Plans were to use what was left of both cabs and use them as a new 210. But it still hasn´t happened as yet. Amazing really since it´s 10 years down the line.

[Tourist]

I hear a rumour that the left main wheels left the ground on lift before the right. Sounds like dynamic rollover?

[lurkposition]

Hey, lowkey,

Were you there in the swim in 1992 ???

You seem to know a bit about the wet-one.

open up and tell us more.....

[ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: lurkposition ]

[rotor tree]

further to my original post, it appears that there is no definite evidence of mechanical failure - or none that has been found yet. Personally I would find it hard to think that dynamic rollover was likely as a) the Sea King has a wide track undercarriage, with the weight all well inside it, b) you would have to mishandle the controls fairly badly to cause the situation and c) I don't know of many (any) situations of Sea King dynamic rollover - however I am prepared to be corrected on that one!

Anyway I eagerly await more info...... (If anyone has any)

[ 04 September 2001: Message edited by: rotor tree ]

[SARBoy Loser]

Spoke to someone on the BOI, and they're still working on it as I write. On the plus side both pilots are back and flying.

[Tiger_mate]

SARboy loser said:

On the plus side both pilots are back and flying.

...and the crewman?

Oh, there wasnt one on board, thank "F" 4 that!

I will keep what I have heard to myself for now, but it will be an interesting outcome to the BOI.

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

CRM?