Sikorsky S55 crash in PNG

[Waghi Warrior]

Anyone know about a Sikorsky S55 accident in PNG recently. I didn't think there were any S55s in PNG. The S55 was a piston engine machine as well which really doesn't make sense.

:confused::confused:

[NotHomeMuch]

Heli Niugini has a couple. Whisperjet conversion last seen running self loading cargo around the Grand Canyon.

[gulliBell]

News to me...it's been well hushed up if there has been a prang...

[bluelippy]

This was a none event. Helo is Ok but the people looking to use it are no longer interested. It was a turbine conversion that works really well, the whole thing was just a small hiccup.

[Nigel Osborn]

Did that S55 replace the S62 that got burnt some years ago?:confused:

[Waghi Warrior]

I just found another thread about this on Bladesplapper. Sounds like it may have been a little more than just a hiccup.

Is the machine on the PNG register ? Seems to be a hell of a lot of foreign registered helicopters operating commercially at the moment in PNG, with low PNG experienced pilots in some of them especially in the highlands. I have heard of some horror stories of new comers lossing control in the hills, ala LTE, and people getting lost ! Maybe it's about time for the PNG CAA to review their requirements in relation to the use of foreign aircraft and pilots in PNG, in an effort to avoid another Ambua style disaster !

[Granny]

bluelippy is right it was a non event-aircraft wasn't damaged.I watched the movie the engineer made of the whole event from the backseat! It seemed like a low side faliure, the engine spooled down just as the load was coming off the ground with a 100 ft line on. It fell back down onto the pad which, incidently was on a conical shaped hill and very steep drop offs each side. Had it occured a few seconds later it would have been very nasty.
Police and PNG CAA has now reopened the S62 burning case to try and locate the individual who burnt this aircraft and see if he is up for another job.;)

[NotHomeMuch]

Ah, so the rumour is true then........it turned into a real Whisperjet :E

[tolakuma manki]

karma :e is a bitch

[heliduck]

To quote granny - "bluelippy is right it was a non event-aircraft wasn't damaged".

WTF?? If an engine spooling down while connected to a 100ft line which in turn is connected to a load which is perched on top of a "conical shaped hill and very steep drop offs each side" is a non-event, I'd hate to see how serious an incident has to be before it is considered "an event"!!!

In fairness to Granny, he followed with "Had it occured a few seconds later it would have been very nasty", so my interpretation is that this was an extremely serious incident & multiple fatalities were only avoided by the actions of the pilot after the engine spooled down.

I worry that the tolerance level to risk is increasing as the competition to get onto the gas bandwagon increases. This is directly proportional to the quantity of widows increasing.

[EBCAU]

Heliduck
The title of this thread is about a Sikorsky crash. There was no crash so therefore Granny is correct. It was not a crash event.
It certainly was an incident however.
It is amazing how quickly people want to turn it into something more serious and start slanging standards of various operators etc. Once you have been in the business for a while you too will probably learn that things occasionally go wrong with engines. If this event had occured to an engine in any other airframe it would not be getting this amount of scrutiny. It's just that everybody is watching somebody trying something different. It appears that many are hoping for failure.

Disclaimer: I do not presently work in PNG, nor have any opinion on the use of Siksorsky S55's in that country.

[heliduck]

EBCAU,
I've re-read my post & I'm not sure what you are referring to.

I didn't say anything about it being a crash
I didn't say anything about the S55 in particular being safe or unsafe
I didn't say anything about any particular operator in PNG


I agree that it is irrelevant what airframe an engine is bolted into, my post would have been exactly the same had it been a brand new machine. My point was, & still is, that I consider an engine spooling down while the aircraft is in the previously mentioned configuration to be serious. Other people who posted regarding this incident/event don't consider it serious, & I was disagreeing with their evaluation.
I'm not sure how many decades I have to be a utility pilot & engineer in order to meet your requirement of "being in the business for a while", but I'd appreciate some guidance from you so I know when it will be acceptable for me to post again.

Please don't write your prejudices into my posts. Thanks.

[blackhand]

So GRANNY, what's the story.
Are you going to post some of the vid?
DO they fit into the Madang Hangar? ha ha

Cheers
BH

[EBCAU]

Heliduck feel free to continue posting.
This forum needs considered debate and opinion. Yours does come into this as far as I am concerned, after deeper perusal and interpretation.

Perhaps you construed the second part of my post as directed purely at you. That was not my intention. It was a general comment after reading several posts on this subject, including in another forum. It seemed to me that many were trying to point fingers far too readily.

For the record your last sentence did seem to me as if you were perhaps insinuating something on the part of an operator. If that is not the case it just goes to show the vagaries of trying to communicate nuance via this media. Perhaps emoticons are the way to go. :)

[Waghi Warrior]

Geez I've opened up a can of worns here.

Ok so it wasn't a crash, I got it wrong however it sounds like it was a very serious incident if there is any truth in what has been said here.

It would be very interesting to see the video, any chance of posting it on here ?

Good to see that there were no injuries and the helicopter was not damaged.

[Semi Rigid]

This is off topic but Whagi Warrior you are dead right. There are foreign operators turning up in droves with machines and going to work - they know the PNGCASA is defunct, broke and overwhelmed. There is no one overseeing rotary aircraft. Some of these operators have crashed their machines on the first job and just bolted. No consequences. No follow up. Getting out of control.
There are existing long term PNG operators/owners who are taking advantage of the lack of direction and manpower at PNGCASA and trying to ram home their own agenda's & get machines that have no where near the correct maintenace programs/part tracking to be accepted onto the register.