Crewmember dies after falling from Helicopter

[Cyclic Hotline]

Crewmember killed after falling from helicopter

Itanagar: In a freak accident, a crewmember of a Pawan Hans helicopter fell to his death when its door flung open in-flight in Arunachal Pradesh early on Friday.

The crewmember, Dhananjay Roy, fell to his death when the door of the 24-seater MI-17 belonging to the state-run Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited opened suddenly, official sources said.

There were five crewmembers and five passengers on board, they said.

The accident occurred five minutes after the helicopter took off from Namsai town in Lohit district at 0615 hours when it was flying over the Lathao town, officials in the Mohanbari air traffic control said.


The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an inquiry into the accident, an official spokesperson said in New Delhi.

The helicopter was travelling on the Itanagar-Mohanbari-Namsai-Tezu-Hayuliang route, the sources said, adding the body of the 40-year-old victim was brought back to Itanagar.




Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/crewmember-killed-after-falling-from-helicopter-42514?cp (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/crewmember-killed-after-falling-from-helicopter-42514?cp)

[Nigel Osborn]

That's very sad. I wonder why he didn't have a harness on.:sad:

[Planemike]

Yes, very sad. RIP.


I wonder why he didn't have a harness on.http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/puppy_dog_eyes.gif
Surely would only wear a harness if operating without doors.....photography, supply dropping etc.... It would appear that a door flew open unexpectedly.

Planemike

[bugdevheli]

Is there any such thing as an accident. An accident would suggest that someone has had something happen that was not preventable. If anyone can come up with what they cosider to be an accident, it would make interesting reading For example. " Man struck by lightening " Accident or preventable. Preventable beause we all know there is a risk of being struck by lightening under cirtain circumstnces, but sometimes assume it will not happen to us. What is an ACCIDENT?

[Coconutty]

Deepest condolences to al those affected by this tragic occurrence.

Is there any such thing as an accident ?YES - Of course there is ! - It is the definition and interpretation of the meaning of the word that seems to cause the problem ...
What is an ACCIDENT?Dictionary definitions go along the lines of, "An unexepected or onforeseen event, particularly when damage or harm are caused."

The word "accident" seems to have developed a common understanding that whatever the occurrence was, there was no-one to blame.

The majority ( some would argue all ) "accidents" could have been avoided in one way or another,
and would be called "preventable" accidents.

If you are going to analyse the whole series of events leading up to an "accident",
then it may be useful to refer to the occurrence as an "incident" rather than an "accident".
The word "incident" in popular use having no such blame free perception attached to it.

Interestingly the Police changed their description of a "Road Traffic Accident" to a "Road Traffic Collision" -
Presumably to remove the Defence arguement that "If it was an 'accident' then my client cannot be to blame."

So back to the original point - was the door opening an "accident" ?
Taking the dictionary definition of an "Unforeseen or unexpected event...." -
YES - It was an "accident", the person who fell out of the door was probably not expecting it,
the pilot wouldn't have been expecting it to happen etc. etc.

Was it a "preventable accident" ? - Almost guaranteed.

Was it an "incident" - Oh Yes.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d129/coconut11/Coconutty.jpg

[bast0n]

Planemike

Surely would only wear a harness if operating without doors.....photography, supply dropping etc.... It would appear that a door flew open unexpectedly.

In my experience all passengers strapped in at all times and wandering crew always on a "despatchers harness".

I know of one crewman who fell out over Plymouth at about 10,000 feet whilst depatching parachutists and was saved by his harness.

Colour his pants brown................................:bored:

[rotorfan]

Trying to imagine myself on board if the door popped open, I would think one would likely have something nearby to grab, even the door frame itself, before falling out. To fall out suddenly, I'm wondering if he might have actually been leaning on the door, so balance would be lost with the shifting of the door. Hmmmmmm, leaning on the door might be why it opened in the first place....:(