View Full Version : EMS EC135 down, Arizona
helihub
14th Feb 2010, 22:45
News reports say 3 killed in accident around 3pm MST, 10pm GMT
FAA Says Helicopter Crash Kills 3 in Phoenix - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9836553)
Hey ... read the article and there is no mention of the helicopter being an EMS aircraft ... maybe the thread title needs to be amended.
wde
heli-cal
15th Feb 2010, 00:30
The helicopter was registered to Services Group of America in Scottsdale, Ariz., a large privately held foodservice and real estate firm. A company spokesman said he didn't immediately have any information about the crash.
Don't sound like EMS!
IntheTin
15th Feb 2010, 03:51
More here. :sad:
3 killed in Arizona helicopter crash - CNN.com (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/02/14/arizona.helicopter.crash/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn)
3 killed in Arizona helicopter crash
February 15, 2010 -- Updated 0131 GMT (0931 HKT)
(CNN) -- Three people, including a child, died Sunday when their helicopter crashed about 35 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.
Investigators had yet to determine the cause of the crash, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN.
The Eurocopter EC135 went down at about 3 p.m. local time just west of the Tonto National Forest in Cave Creek, Arizona, and subsequently burst into flames, Gregor said.
FAA (http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Federal_Aviation_Administration) agents were headed to the scene, and a National Transportation Safety Board investigator was scheduled to arrive Monday, he said.
GeorgeMandes
16th Feb 2010, 21:44
From AIN Feb 16, 2010
Blade Separation Preceded EC135 Crash
Preliminary indications are that blade failure played a role in the fatal crash of a 2000 American Eurocopter EC135T1 near Cave Creek, Ariz., on Sunday afternoon. Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a popping sound and then seeing parts fly off the helicopter before it rolled several times, pitched 90 degrees nose-down into the ground and caught fire. The NTSB confirmed to AIN that parts of the rotor blades were found half a mile from the crash site. The helicopter was en route from Flagstaff to Scottsdale Air Park when it crashed in a desert wash between two houses, killing all five aboard. Among the passengers were the helicopter’s owner–billionaire Thomas Stewart, CEO of Services Group of America–his wife, five-year-old daughter and the pilot. Stewart is remembered for unsuccessfully trying to get the city of Seattle to approve a helipad on the roof of his office building there, and eventually taking the matter to the Washington State Supreme Court.
blakmax
17th Feb 2010, 22:20
That looks like the skin peeled back from the LE of the blade.
Helicopter Crashes In Cave Creek - Photos - KPHO Phoenix (http://www.kpho.com/slideshow/news/22564654/detail.html)
It seems that the tear in the skin outboard is larger than the tear at the fracture site, suggesting that this peel back is a precursor to the fracture of the blade. If it had resulted from the blade breaking I would expect to see the size of the tear being larger at the fracture site.
Does anyone have details of the blade construction?
Blakmax