Clipped a helo at FL120 or...clipped a hangar at FL001?

[Steve76]

Doesn't stack up but happy to be corrected. Follow the link at the bottom.

Accident: Syrian Arab A320 near Damascus on Sep 20th 2012, mid air collision with helicopter

A Syrian Arab Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration YK-AKF performing flight RB-501 from Damascus to Latakia (Syria), was climbing through FL120 out of Damascus when the main rotor of a military helicopter clipped the upper half of the vertical stabilizer and rudder off the airliner. The helicopter crashed, the A320 was able to return to Damascus for a safe landing. The helicopter crew died, there were no injuries aboard the A320, the A320 received substantial damage.

A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration YK-AKC reached Latakia and onward destination Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) with a delay of 5 hours.

Syria's Information Ministry reported the aircraft carried 200 people.

The damage of YK-AKF:

Accident: Syrian Arab A320 near Damascus on Sep 20th 2012, mid air collision with helicopter (http://avherald.com/h?article=45671063&opt=0)

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

Assuming the report is accurate (and stranger things have happened), well done the Airbus crew! RIP the helo crew though:sad:.

[Aesir]

That must have been one fast helicopter.. overtaking an A320 like this. Or maybe they were flying inverted or it would be pretty difficult to do this kind of damage and not strike the wings or stabilator at all.

[krypton_john]

The vertical stab is about 20 feet high so could happen.

If all is true - what was the helicopter doing in the IFR control zone?

[Furia]

Militay helicopters in a"war zone" do not use to adhere to airspace regulations as they do in peace time I guess. Besides this, most medium to heavy helicopters are IFR cerfitied and can fly IFR at FL120.
I guess this one was not a controlled IFR flight and it was not using transponder either.

[SASless]

12,000 feet in a helicopter is no big deal.....so long as the ground elevation is 11,800 feet.

[Geoffersincornwall]

Back in the late 70s a Sea Harrier and a Wessex 5 were in the instrument pattern at RNAS Yeovilton and due to an ATC oversight they met. The tail wheel of the Wessex carved a groove in the tail-fin of the Sea Harrier.

Strange things can and do happen!

G.

:ok:

[Senior Pilot]

Geoffers,

That was Bast0n, photos and narrative in Post 307 (http://www.pprune.org/6842661-post307.html) of What is it about the Wessex that makes people so fond of it? (http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/123915-what-about-wessex-makes-people-so-fond-16.html#post6842661)

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

The tail wheel of the Wessex carved a groove in the tail-fin of the Sea Harrier.


That Sea Harrier wasn't the only Senior Service 'vehicle' to be damaged by a Wessex tailwheel...

[Brilliant Stuff]

Then there was the Culdrose training jet which took a nibble out of the Police AS355 vertical fin at Cheddar/ Wiltshire. Only underwear was harmed in that...

[SASless]

Actually....isn't that "Bast0n The Blessed" to whom we refer!

[Droopy]

The pilot of the police 355 now sits on a cloud at the CAA...just to split hairs it was a Tucano and it hit the stinger, not the fin. ISTR the Tucano crew reported they were both momentarily heads-in at the moment of impact.

If I'd just bumped in to somebody I would have been "momentarily heads-in" too :hmm:

[Brian Abraham]

12,000 feet in a helicopter is no big deal.....so long as the ground elevation is 11,800 feetYou not one of those "never above 1,500" guys SAS? ;)

[CareBear]

We often fly at fl120 on long transits. It's cooler and saves fuel!

[spencer17]

@ CareBear:
And makes me dizzy.:E

[Spunk]

It's cooler and saves fuel!

... and it confuses Air Traffic Controller.

Asking for permission to enter airspace Charlie at FL 100 in order to catch some nice tailwind (groundspeed of 170 kts in a B407) I had the following radio communication:

Radar: "... Could you please confirm your callsign is D-H...."

Me:"Affirm, callsign is D-H ..." (In Germany a callsign starting with D-H ... always indicates that you are a helicopter)

Radar: "D-H ... Could you please confirm you are a helicopter."

Me: "Affirm, D-H ... is a helicopter."

Radar: "We just had a little discussion here. FL 100 and a groundspeed of 170 kts just didn`t seem to be right for a helicopter."
:D:D:D

[Wageslave]

Of course not. T'aint natural.

[Aesir]

Reports or rumours say a Mi8 or Mi17.

I´m not buying it. Something is fishy here :suspect:

------------
edit.

I guess I will have to buy the story! This picture does look like this could have been a rotor strike. Reports now say it´s not confirmed if the A320 was on approach or departure.

http://aviation-safety.net/photos/accidents/750/20120920-0-C-d-2-750.jpg