Rotorflug 206 down in Spanish street

[helihub]

http://www.xn--guiarotea-s6a.es/galeria/bf2ce8_54454.JPG

http://www.heraldo.es/uploads/imagenes/bajacalidad/_c_0320a15a.jpg

Was operating out of Jerez, and appears to have had a technical issue leading to need to force land immediately

Translated local press reports here (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.diariovasco.com/rc/20110918/mas-actualidad/sociedad/helicoptero-estrella-puerto-santa-201109181857.html&ei=t852TpXeGKWi0QXV7_zUBg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CFYQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522El%2BPuerto%2Bde%2BSanta%2BMar%25C3%25ADa% 2522%2Bhelicoptero%26hl%3Den%26nord%3D1%26biw%3D1678%26bih%3 D922%26site%3Dwebhp%26prmd%3Dimvns) and here (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.canalsur.es/portal_rtva/web/noticia/id/168224/portada/se_estrella_un_helicoptero_en_el_puerto_de_santa_maria&ei=t852TpXeGKWi0QXV7_zUBg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEQQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522El%2BPuerto%2Bde%2BSanta%2BMar%25C3%25ADa% 2522%2Bhelicoptero%26hl%3Den%26nord%3D1%26biw%3D1678%26bih%3 D922%26site%3Dwebhp%26prmd%3Dimvns)

[mickjoebill]

Reports of three passengers and a pilot and cineflex camera and floats... in a 206??
Whose idea was that?



Mickjoebill

[farmpilot]

That will be an interesting weight and balance......

[kikorro]

...and is a single engine choper overflying a 80.000 inhabitants town....

[fly911]

...and is a single engine choper overflying a 80.000 inhabitants town....

They do it over New York City all the time.

[Jarvy]

Indeed they do, watched a NYPD A119 going round the empire state building just yesterday evening.

[mickjoebill]

They do it over New York City all the time.

But only when high or fast enough to find suitable open space for an emergency landing...most of the time.



Mickjoebill

[helispeediii]

thank goodness no fatalities ? any one know what the camera and mount weight ?, the floats look light weight pop outs , depends on fuel and pax weights andseating positions we should not speculate whats the gross 3000, or 3200? helispeed iii

[Vizsla]

No sign of any camera mount which would normally be mounted rear starboard door. Camera weight 18 kilos.
Could have been operated with lens stabliser and hand held

[GoodGrief]

Look under the nose.

http://www.rotorflug.de/typo3temp/pics/f77ec844b0.jpg

[e-miles]

They do it all the time in the states but not in europe, where you are not allowed.

[GoodGrief]

Of course it's allowed in the EU.What are you guys talking about...?

[farmpilot]

Work on 45kgs on the nose and another 20 or so in the back.

This aircraft was well over max weight, if the reports are correct......

[mickjoebill]

Helicopter makes emergency touchdown in three-foot-wide street (http://www.thereader.es/spain-news-stories/7120-Helicopter-makes-emergency-touchdown-in-four-metre-wide-street.html)

THREE people have suffered injuries after a helicopter was forced to land in a street in the small municipality of El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz).

The emergency touchdown just after 17.00hrs on Sunday was due to a technical problem with the craft.

Emergency services say the three injured men, all German nationals, were the pilot and crew of the helicopter.

They had been flying over the province of Cádiz to take aerial-view photos.

Police at the scene said they were 'stunned' at the pilot's skill which enabled him to neatly slot the helicopter into the C/ San Juan, which is less than four metres wide.

Nobody on the ground was injured and in the city was no damage to properties, most of which are one-storey houses, except for one of these which had a broken window.

One of the men has been discharged from hospital, another remains in observation and a third has been moved to the hospital in the neighbouring municipality of Puerto Real.

This report says a total of three POB, all German nationals.

Mickjoebill

[farsouth]

Helicopter-makes-emergency-touchdown-in-three-foot-wide-streetl

Those Spaniards must have very big feet.............

[farmpilot]

If they were light on fuel then OK

[Flyting]

Yup....and they also said the street was less than a meter wide....:ok: sure looks like it...! What with a jetty lying on it's side and space for fire crew...:D:D:D

[500e]

Viz look again first picture left hand side, in foam

[ReverseFlight]

A true testament to the Jetty's ability as an industry workhorse and kudos to the pilot. :D

Wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

[kikorro]

In Spain is fobiden to overfly towns of more than 10000 inh.

[e-miles]

In Spain you can not overfly towns of more than 50K Inh. with a single engine helicopter :=


according to air traffic regulations in Spain (R.C.A.):
5.1.7. Overflight of urban areas.
Shall not fly over urban areas of over 50,000 inhabitants helicópters equipped with only one engine, except in emergency evacuation missions and medical transportation, if
justified.

[Bronx]

Nobody died. Good news. :ok:




Now let's criticize the pilot.

SOP. :rolleyes:

[mickjoebill]

If they were light on fuel then OK

Reports say that they had just taken off from the local airfield.

Mickjoebill

[oleary]

farmpilot states, "Work on 45kgs on the nose and another 20 or so in the back.

This aircraft was well over max weight, if the reports are correct......
"
_________________________________________________________
But the initial reports never are correct!

Anyway, what would GTOW that have to do with root cause of this crash?

We older fellows have learned not to beak off until all of the information is in.

[John Eacott]

Work on 45kgs on the nose and another 20 or so in the back.

This aircraft was well over max weight, if the reports are correct......

Really? As already said, what is it here that induces posters to spout off as if the investigation is a done deal, and the pilot is guilty until proven innocent? 3 pax + cineflex + floats on an 820 (?) kg machine shouldn't break the bank, even with an hour's fuel :=

How about a bit of :D for the pilot getting it down such that the passengers and himself received only minor injuries?

[ReverseFlight]

I agree with JE - that's why I said Kudos to the pilot in post #19.

I couldn't have done better if faced with force landing a Jetty in a back alley.

[oleary]

Right on, John.

On another subject, I have recently learned that you too were an employee of the big orange.

That would would make us cohorts, I reckon.

I only did one tour in Juhu - 212, 76 & 61.

Most of my time was in the Canadian Arctic or the East Coast of Canada.

The orange 204, 205, 206, 212, 214ST, 58, 61, and 76's bring back lots of memories!

[oleary]

I totally agree with reverse flight!

Bent tin we can always fix!

Kudos to the driver!

[Furia]

While I am really happy that there were no fatalities, I would not congratulate the pilot so fast until the investigation of this accident is completed.
The fact that he didn't kill any innocent people on that Village was simply pure luck and this incident could have turned out in tragedy.

The regulations are very specific regarding the "operations" over congested areas for single engine helicopters and that seems to have been ignored.
It is a fact repeated by some national and foreing operators here with the complacency of the Spanish Civil Aviation, that as long you fill up their desks with useless paperwork (Which they honestly belive it is enough to ensure 120% safety), they are happy.

Common sense, indcates that you must fly in such a profile that in case of an engine failure you must be able to land or autorrotate to a clear area.

Probably in several years we will get the accident report from the Spanish Civil Aviation Investigation Comision (We do not do that any faster) :ugh:

On the meantime, in our "Excellent safety enviroment" :{ well documented and camuflaged with tones of papers, documents and absurd burocracy and with 10000 burocrats just talking about helicopter safety while having coffe, but never ever going to the field just to verify it, we just had another fatal helicopter accident yesterday night, where a bell 412 crashed killing all 3 onboard on the same region of Spain.
Our helicopter accident statistics are world record. :\
So far in the last 12 months we have had several helicopter accidents with quite a number of fatalities.

[BigFrank]

I am in agreement with Furia.

I have never travelled in a helicopter and do not plan to. Anywhere. Ever.

I do however fly through Spanish airspace regularly on commercial flights.

I have no direct knowledge of what the pilot and the ATC are up to but I have seen enough here on these threads to worry me, such as the very recent thread within ATC about Spanish ATC where the issue of Spaniards favouring Spaniards got everybody going whereas the core issue raised by the OP of improving SAFETY didn´t get off the ground (sic).

I have seen other elements of Spanish government bureaucracy close up professionally and the idea expressed by Furia that they say [I]"fill in all the paperwork in triplicate with photos of everyone including the tea-boy and then do as you see fit on the ground/ in the air(?) because we are far too busy and important to leave the office to have a look" is one which I can endorse. In spades.

Words fail me.

[RPM AWARE]

"I have never travelled in a helicopter and do not plan to. Anywhere. Ever.":rolleyes:

[OvertHawk]

Big Frank.

I'm relieved to hear you say that you will never ever fly in a helicopter because now i don't have to worry about you every getting into one of mine!

As for the accident - looks like the pilot pulled off a pretty good job in bad circumstances, but you have to ask yourself why he was there in the first place.

Glad no-one was hurt - could have been different though.

OH

[FairWeatherFlyer]

Does the battery get relocated when you have a nose mounted camera?

[mickjoebill]

Does the battery get relocated when you have a nose mounted camera?

Yes, by the fire crew after the crash.

3 pax + cineflex + floats on an 820 (?) kg machine shouldn't break the bank, even with an hour's fuel

It may be legal but the setup compromises the shots for sub 1000ft AGL aerials. Main factor is need for higher forward speed just to stay airborn and also less shot choice going downwind for same reason.

Local reports say they were going Jerez to Malaga approx 100 miles.

In respect to an emergency, would anyone care to put a number on the difference in auto rotation and glide performance, if any, with 120kg less on board?


Mickjoebill

[alouette]

I like the statement "I will never travel with a helicopter, ever". Those are precisely the folks who step in a car every day and expose themselves to a higher risk. Enough of that.

Fact is, that pilot did a fantastic job and walked away. Question though; what if it would have been a twin?

We have to remember that we as pilots always have to be the extra ounce careful when conducting those filming operations. :ok:

[Matari]

Does the battery get relocated when you have a nose mounted camera?

The battery is still there, visible in the first photo of this thread.

[birrddog]

Is it not painfully obvious the reason the aircraft is on it's side is because the pilot did not deploy the floats?

I mean any fool knows when landing in foam you need to deploy the floats.

That was at least a few inches of foam...

I mean, they could have drowned....
:O

[mickjoebill]

Fact is, that pilot did a fantastic job

How do you know he did a fantastic job?
Looks like he was coming from camera right, over the block of land by the street corner @1.26

O1ae9zoWzVU

Here is some seriously low aerial filming over the same location, aircraft type unknown and not necessarily connected with this incident in any way.
Hope they were in a twin....

BVPPmRv9URk




Mickjoebill

[John R81]

Is the Pilot mad???? likely he will be prosecuted for proceeding the wrong way along a one-way street. £60 fine and 3 points on your license here in UK!

And I am not sure the fireman's uniform (about 45 seconds in) would work here. OK, the shorts are the right colour but today it is cold enough to require a shirt (at least).

[Furia]

I have just learned that this operation was conducted inside a military restricted airspace (LER-72) so apparently they were not only overflying at low leve a urban area with a single engine helicopter but they were inside a restricted area.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6170/6161990917_b9bbb682b4_b.jpg

[Bronx]

BigFrank Words fail me.

They didn't.
Unfortunately. :rolleyes:

[mickjoebill]

so apparently they were not only overflying at low leve a urban area with a single engine helicopter but they were inside a restricted area.

We do not know if they were flying low level.
German pilot two Austrian crew. If their mission was Jerez to Malaga as reported they weren't going direct, is it mandatory to overfly Santa Maria to the South East if ones destination is to the East?

Apparently this was their mission...flying along the coast doing orbits of hotels. Nice idea hope the idea catches on ... work for all.


Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhottelling.net%2F2011%2F09%2F02%2Fhotelmarket ing-hotels-sollen-per-video-gebucht-werden-)

Here is a promo of the filming operation, edited a few weeks ago, happily, all the shots are from a respectable height:ok:
It is normal for the camera op to sit in the rear left with recording and cineflex control equipment and recorder on the other seat, and hopefully not blocking the exit, thus the 2nd passenger usually sits in the front.
Google Translate (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=de&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.traffics-switch.de/heliview/&usg=ALkJrhiZ3IAGHtOUd1hNlx9XNR3kaEJPmQ)

Note that the still picture on the website of a camera man filming from the front left seat with a hand held broadcast size camera is a red herring, as he was probably just shooting a few promo shots, not likely that this camera was being utilized during the shoot.


Mickjoebill

[Runway101]

Here is an article and interview with the camera operator on board. He got away only with scratches, but the other pax is still in hospital with internal injuries and has been hit hard.

According to him, the helicopter started spinning at around 1400 feet, probably due to a "malfunctioning tail rotor", and "scraped" some walls of buildings next to the church, before it fell onto the street.

Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vol.at%2Fvorarlberger-ueberlebt-heli-unglueck-in-spanien%2Fnews-20110922-06242394)

http://resources.vol.at/vorarlberger-ueberlebt-heli-unglueck-in-spanien/news-20110922-06242394-1378767926.jpg