Helisika Squirrel hits wires in Downtown Auckland'd Viaduct.

[Sqwark2000]

Happened this morning....

Pilot ok, despite being thrown out door and ending up in rear cabin. Was helped from wreckage by ground workers who didn't waste time getting there :ok:

Was being filmed as it was erecting the Telecom Christmas Tree, was avail as live stream via Herald site.

Video here (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10768105&gallery_id=122790)

S2K

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Hmmmm - didn't really think that one through, did he!

Dr :8

[Jabawocky]

Was just watching that in the office.... thread on pprune already. You lads are quick!

How many times does this happen.....usually fatal. Risky business.

And get a look at the pilot being tossed out and back into the back. :eek:

[VH-XXX]

It's on YouTube for those on "i" type devices. "Wellington helicopter crash" will find it.

Interesting video. Amazing that the tail section falls straight off from what looks like an MR impact through the forces on the airframe. The turbine noise as it winds down is impressive and the guy that climbs straight in to rescue the crew despite the dangers has big balls.

[baswell]

Seeing the whole airframe wobble like a house in a giant earthquake and coming apart from a rotor strike on a wire just shows the forces involved.

I'd always (naively) imagined it to be just the rotors breaking and the thing falling to the ground.

All for a Christmas tree! Good thing everyone is OK, but I can see the honourable mention being drawn up for the next Darwin Awards...

[Aerodynamisist]

The footage is pretty good, you can see him leaning out and looking down, and the offending wire is also in view moving towards and then hitting the main rotor, almost as if it got drawn in by the wash. The pilot was lucky not to fall further or get cut in half by the flailing rotor.

[moreflaps]

No, not a wire strike, looks to me like the rope he was carrying was sucked up into the rotor. Look at the rope guide carefully...

Cheers

[Oakape]

Different footage here -

Chopper pilot had 20 years experience - National - Video - 3 News (http://www.3news.co.nz/Auckland-helicopter-crash-new-footage/tabid/309/articleID/233796/Default.aspx)

Seems that somebody was tugging on a cable & may have pulled it into the blades. It also appears that his seat failed, which was why he ended up on his back at the rear of the cabin & may be why he almost went out the door.

More information in the rotorheads forum.

[Sqwark2000]

at 3:44 in the TV3 footage, you can see a guy under the helicopter jump up and grab the long line, prob making line taut and bringing it into the rotor disc. You see him stand up after the prang, very lucky not to have thing flatten him.
Note he wasn't wearing hi-viz or hardhat by the looks, so what was he doing there going for the long line?

[aussie027]

Great new footage from that front angle, the comments on that page under the clip explain a little more that cable was hanging in a loop from tower to underside of helo.

In that split second after contact what caused the entire tail boom to just come off like it had been cut clean, did the cable dragged by the rotors slice it off?? I couldnt make it out from side or front view.

[aussie027]

Did the cable being dragged by the rotor slice of the tail boom???

I couldnt make it out from either view. it is a clean cut and was virtually instantaneous.

[aussie027]

did the wire slice off the tail rotor??

[Capn Bloggs]

Did the cable slice off the tail rotor??

It looks like it was cut clean and happened in a split second after impact.
Looks to me like the rear end just fell off; structural failure caused by the excessive shaking of the fuselage (new gearbox mounts required). After the tail starts to fall off, both rotors are still whizzing around quite happily (for a short time). The TV 3 news video shows this clearly at 1:04:

SH4GV151N0U

[Baritji]

Note he wasn't wearing hi-viz or hardhat by the looks, so what was he doing there going for the long line?

Exactly... No way would this have happened if he was wearing his Hi-Vis!!! :=

[Wally Mk2]

Just as an observation here & obviously just an opinion when the main rotor hit the cable/object the sudden 'jolt' I believe would have been transmitted right thru the airframe instantly as all that energy has to be dissipated somewhere so the tail/boom which has a fair weight hung right out at the end of it (the tail rotor/gearbox) would have acted like a lever placing a force upon the boom snapping it (the boom)off where it attaches to the main body almost the instantly the main blades got whacked. Also the tail blades where trying to hold the tail steady even during the instant event making the strain on the boom attach point even more stressed under load. Watch closely the main cabin shake violently also & that is probably half the distance from the main rotor shaft, the central point of any chopper.
I've had this very same end result myself with a toy heli, the main blades hit an immovable object & the first thing that let go was the boom, tears where next on the scene !:-(.

That's one lucky driver not to mention personal in the immediate area!


Wmk2

[hard_yakka]

Note he wasn't wearing hi-viz or hardhat by the looks, so what was he doing there going for the long line?It looks like he was one of the crew. He seems to be wearing a harness. He does have Hi-Vis stripes on his (black) shirt but it isn't a full on vest. He also seems to be wearing a pilot's headset (ergo no hard-hat) so perhaps he was on ground comms and the pilot asked him to clear a hung-up long line. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to have gone to plan...
Who knows? I'm sure more details will come to light

[Sqwark2000]

I wasn't suggesting the hi-viz was going to make a difference, what I meant was, why was everyone else wearing vests but he wasn't? Did it mean he wasn't a person who wouldn't normally be involved in heli ops? Was he unfamiliar with the job?

Turns out, from the TV1 news tonight he was a contractor from the rigging company contracted to erect the Xmas tree, so prob didn't understand the consequence of grabbing a line that hung perilously close to the rotordisc.

Chill out boys....


S2k

[aussie027]

Did the cable slice off the tail rotor??

It looks like it was cut clean and happened in a split second after impact.

[jas24zzk]

I was thinking the same thing aussie.

I thought about Capn bloggs answer, so slowed the video down a little. Seems to me, tho you can't see the cable, that the rotor has taken the cable around the fuse and garroted the tail boom The boom is clearly the first item to actually show any sign of impact related movement.

Be interesting to see the results of that part of the investigation, Because if bloggs is right and the boom simply failed, you'd be a very worried AS350 driver if that was the case.

Interesting the comments in rotorheads about the wearing of bone domes. Not so sure I'll giggle at any pilot wearing one again.

At least everyone is safe on this one.

[havick]

Be interesting to see the results of that part of the investigation, Because if bloggs is right and the boom simply failed, you'd be a very worried AS350 driver if that was the case.

On the contrary, I wouldn't be the slightest bit worried. With a main rotor impact like that, the tailboom separating under the result of a sudden stoppage is the last thing you would be thinking about.

I'm more concerned about the front seat turning itself into the backseat.

[jas24zzk]

Yer the rotorheads were discussing that. Looks like there's a SB out for them for that reason. Another interesting point..was the SB adhered to on that unit.

I am with you tho, was simply making a viewpoint based on Capn Bloggs post.

Cheers
Jas

[Oakape]

Interview with the pilot.

Pilot Talks About Dream Like Crash - Yahoo! New Zealand News Video (http://nz.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/27384052)

[Chemical Ali]

I've looked at the footage about a hundred times now. There is 1 peice of footage on youtube that has 2 points of view - camerman pointing nearly vertically upwards (plan view), and the other from the side (profile view). The plan view shows the hi-line clearly connected to the external load hook under the helo; to where I don't know. But it makes sense that if he were erecting the mast then his hi-line would be connected to the top of the mast. After he crashes you can see a very loose strung cable in front of 1 of the remaining rotor blades.

The profile view footage shows the mast flexing at the same time as the helo shreds itself to pieces, with a cable loose still connected to it. Is it the guy-wire from the mast or the hi-line? My thoughts are the hi-line because it were the guy-wire then the mast would have probably fallen down.

Taking a few steps back, and this is just my mental model here so don't start firing rockets at me just yet: Mast is laying down horizontally on ground ready to be erected. Ground crew connect 2 guy-wires from mast. Helo external load-lifts the mast up (which is anchored at the base). Ground crew then connect the remaining 2 guy-wires to their anchor points - mast is now erect and stable. Helo then comes clear of the mast and wires and descends vertically down, with hi-line still connected to the top of mast (plan view footage supports this theory). Pilot either forgets to pickle the load (release the load) or his load release switches malfunction. I don't know what type of release mechanisms this guy has in his AS350 but should'nt be much different from any other by the looks of it. 1 ground crew member (the one under the helo) desparately tries to signal the pilot to waive-off. Pilot probably doesn't see him so continues down pulling the hi-line taut and into the main rotor blades. 1 maybe 2 rotor blades strike the cable probably taking the end(s) off, completely unbalancing the rotorhead. You can see the rotorhead violently shaking through the airframe which most likely caused the tailboom to disconnect from the mainbody.

Just my thoughts and not intended to cast a bad light on the pilot. Some very lucky individuals that day, that is for certain. This why we always carry aircrewman in the back. They are worth their weight in gold.

[Capn Bloggs]

Aha! The offending wire:

http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w334/capnbloggs/Caught.jpg

from this video (2:50 in):

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