Fatal Helo Crash in the Virgin Islands

[KiwiNedNZ]

From Media.

​​​​​​Four people are dead in the U.S. Virgin Islands Monday after a helicopter crash, according to the Virgin Islands Emergency Management Agency.

Calls to 911 about a chopper going down in the western end of the St. Thomas area of Botany Bay came in around 3:14 p.m. local time, according to authorities.

The identities of the victims and the cause of the crash have not been released at this time.

The emergency management agency said it has recovered the four bodies of the deceased, but it won't release their names until next-of-kin are notified.

The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

[Cabby]

RIP
https://heavy.com/news/maria-rodriguez-st-thomas-helicopter-crash/

[nomorehelosforme]

Possibly Bell 206B

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=247872

[Bell_ringer]

Possibly Bell 206B

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=247872

There is a big "?" in that entry.
Given the operator only has R44's and a H145, and you're unlikely to run an H145 with only 3 paying pax onboard, I would suggest its a Robbie.

[Gordy]

Reports must have been wrong

[Nubian]

Well, the NTSB newsroom is reporting it to be a 206B. One person possibly missing as well. 5 listed to be on board. From the company's facebook page, they have quite a few recent pictures and some videos living up to the company name of a 206. N13AT comes up as registered to Caribbean Buzz.

[nomorehelosforme]

Now confirmed ON ASN Wikibase as Bell 206B N13AT

[TowerDog]

Sad story:
I lived in St. Thomas and flew for a few operators there: Virgin Air, Aero Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands International Airways, and a few more on St. Croix.
Back then there was only one rotor wing operator, a Bell 206 doing sightseeing flights.
We all knew each other, small community, tiny island.
Wx was usually good VMC, 99% of the time.
Best and easiest flying on the planet.:ooh:

[atakacs]

Any initial thoughts about what happened ?
Seems conditions were good...

[9Aplus]

HAI on FB

HAI is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Maria Rodriguez, the recipient of the 2018 HAI Salute to Excellence Pilot of the Year Award. We offer our condolences to her friends and family. Check out this throwback video recognizing Maria’s work to provide post-hurricane relief in the Virgin Islands that led to her receiving this award. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3W6FWEzsf8
In this follow-up video interview, Maria describes those hurricane relief missions. She also discusses her experiences in a male-dominated industry and offers advice to other women pursuing a career in aviation. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fnjwFNqKSI (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-fnjwFNqKSI&h=AT0Im-tt4So8XCdfk_nhcELRjN7QgE5NgVTJntQNTNbUu031dVmFjqOxs3UbXs_Fu4 6AKaY1jXqTVTTL9BympJgYD3Fm5GzV0LbjwTalpyam7zEgd2wtOYYKh2tTuy nopjyX&h=AT0Im-tt4So8XCdfk_nhcELRjN7QgE5NgVTJntQNTNbUu031dVmFjqOxs3UbXs_Fu4 6AKaY1jXqTVTTL9BympJgYD3Fm5GzV0LbjwTalpyam7zEgd2wtOYYKh2tTuy nopjyX&h=AT0Im-tt4So8XCdfk_nhcELRjN7QgE5NgVTJntQNTNbUu031dVmFjqOxs3UbXs_Fu4 6AKaY1jXqTVTTL9BympJgYD3Fm5GzV0LbjwTalpyam7zEgd2wtOYYKh2tTuy nopjyX)

RIP

[atakacs]

Any news on this one? Shouldn't the preliminary 'one month' report be published?

[minimo]

Any news on this one? Shouldn't the preliminary 'one month' report be published?
There's a video running from today on heliponto account on IG which is commented as being this tragic accident. Engine failure is clearly visible.

[heli kiwi]

Thank you. I just watched it. Looks like an engine failure. Puff of smoke then heads down.
https://instagram.com/helipontobr?utm_medium=copy_link

[aa777888]

Watching the video: would it seem that it was in the avoid part of the HV chart when the engine failed?

BTW, if you want to save the video for more detailed study, this site works well: https://igram.io/

[Hot and Hi]

Either way, that doesn't mean that one shouldn't at least attempt to do an autorotation. What happened to 'cyclic forward, nose down, speed, flare..."?

On a different note: What happened to the proverbial reliability of turbine engines? Does that not apply to South America?

[KiwiNedNZ]

Didnt think the U S Virgin Islands was in South America ?????

[Hot and Hi]

Sorry, Central America then. In South Africa a month ago, we had a Rolls Royce turbine in a Bell Longranger fail on short final. Internal mechanical failure in the hot section. Ok, that’s also not South America, so please allow me drop this point.

Still, what happened to turbine reliability?

[Self loading bear]

I guess that overtemping like in the other thread will reduce reliability and lifetime?
These machines have been abused earlier?

[[email protected]]

Nick Lappos used to use an analogy for engine life of a jar of beans - when the jar is empty the engine is finished but how quickly you use those beans up depends on how hard you use the engine.

Repeated overtemp uses those beans very fast.

[malabo]

You can see the twitch left coincident with the puff of smoke, so should have been all reflex by the pilot to an engine failure. Speed/height looked survivable, maybe even outside the HV that assures a no-damage landing on the right surface. Can't tell how well she handled rpm, there was a slight turn right away from higher ground. Tough situation, maybe I've been blessed by brass-plated maintenance in my career, but an Allison turbine failure at low power is right up there with the second engine failing on a Cat 1 procedure.

[Arnie Madsen]

.

Screen capture from a video of B206 N13AT

.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/525x316/st_thomas_b206_5123d7642dfe4c35da65ae51ed35208ea765b224.jpg

[TowerDog]

The Caribbean ain't Central America, or even close to it.
This is Central America:
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Been flying to 6 out of the 7, Costa Rica is by far the best as far as quality of living/visiting, Honduras the worst.

The Caribbean is a bunch of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, numerous countries and nationalities, St. Barths at the top of the food chain, Haiti at the very bottom.
Some sweet islands in between, like Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.
St. John not to be confused with St. Johns.
St. Martin not to be confused with St. Maarten.
Anguilla not to be confused with Antigua.:sad:
(I know, some are towns, some are islands)

Flew down there for years and lived on a sailboat doing it.
Highly recommended.