Crew escape firefighting incident Table Mountain National Park
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 5,197
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Crew escape firefighting incident Table Mountain National Park
A Super Frelon fighting a veld fire in Table Mountain National Park in gale-force winds burst into flames after the pilot had to make an emergency landing near the Silvermine dam.
All four occupants escaped with minor burns and bruising, while one of them broke an ankle.
They were flown by another fire-fighting helicopter to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg.
The pilot, Louis Venter, who is also the Working on Fire aviation manager, was discharged. The other crew members - Daryl Ray, Willie Durandt and Don Bacon - were kept in hospital overnight for observation.
The burning helicopter started a second fire which, in spite of the rain and driven by a gale-force north-westerly wind gusting up to 98km/h, spread rapidly through the Silvermine fynbos. The second helicopter returned to extinguish the fire.
The wreck of the Super Frelon, a three-engined multipurpose helicopter, burned with flames that were a brilliant white, said to have been because of the magnesium in the metal of the aircraft. The rain, driven almost parallel with the ground by the wind, did nothing to dampen the flames.
The edges of the rotor blades looked like the leaves of a banana plant after hail, with the outer blade covering shredded and flapping in the wind.
The helicopter was one of two being used by the government-sponsored Working on Fire (WoF) programme to douse the wild fire in the park near Cape Town, believed to have been caused by a lightning strike during a storm on Sunday night.
"After picking up a load of water one of the helicopters appeared to lose power and dumped the water before performing an emergency crash landing," said Netcare 911 spokesman Nick Dollman. Netcare paramedics attended to the injured at the scene before they were flown to hospital. Willie Durandt's face, neck and hands were burnt.
Pilot Louis Venter, who escaped with burns to his hands, was recuperating at his home in the Strand on Tuesday.
All four occupants escaped with minor burns and bruising, while one of them broke an ankle.
They were flown by another fire-fighting helicopter to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg.
The pilot, Louis Venter, who is also the Working on Fire aviation manager, was discharged. The other crew members - Daryl Ray, Willie Durandt and Don Bacon - were kept in hospital overnight for observation.
The burning helicopter started a second fire which, in spite of the rain and driven by a gale-force north-westerly wind gusting up to 98km/h, spread rapidly through the Silvermine fynbos. The second helicopter returned to extinguish the fire.
The wreck of the Super Frelon, a three-engined multipurpose helicopter, burned with flames that were a brilliant white, said to have been because of the magnesium in the metal of the aircraft. The rain, driven almost parallel with the ground by the wind, did nothing to dampen the flames.
The edges of the rotor blades looked like the leaves of a banana plant after hail, with the outer blade covering shredded and flapping in the wind.
The helicopter was one of two being used by the government-sponsored Working on Fire (WoF) programme to douse the wild fire in the park near Cape Town, believed to have been caused by a lightning strike during a storm on Sunday night.
"After picking up a load of water one of the helicopters appeared to lose power and dumped the water before performing an emergency crash landing," said Netcare 911 spokesman Nick Dollman. Netcare paramedics attended to the injured at the scene before they were flown to hospital. Willie Durandt's face, neck and hands were burnt.
Pilot Louis Venter, who escaped with burns to his hands, was recuperating at his home in the Strand on Tuesday.
"It was hectic."
"You actually believe you are going to die because you can't get out. You don't often get to the point of feeling that."We were over the dam to pick up water when there was a problem.
"Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it was, because we're not allowed to until the Civil Aviation Authority has finished its inquiry.
"The bucket was about half-full when we experienced the problem and we dumped the water and landed.
"I guess the whole thing took, at most, 15 seconds.
"I got us on to the ground, but it's not level there and the helicopter rolled over on to its right side. The blades were still going, but I had shut down the engine before we rolled.
"Some of the fuel got out. That usually happens if it goes over. The engine was still hot so the fuel ignited," Venter said.
"The engineer, Don Bacon, was in the back and he got out of the emergency hatch at the rear. The hatch is normally on the side, but it was above him because the chopper was on its side. When he got out, he had to jump down and he broke his ankle. But he wasn't burnt.
"The three of us, me and Daryl Rea and Willie Durandt, were all still strapped in in the cockpit. Only the window on the right of the cockpit opens and, on the left, there is an emergency window. But we were lying on the right side so couldn't open that window.
"We undid our straps and tried to get out of the emergency hatch. It's very disorientating because everything's the wrong way, (as in) the Poseidon Adventure. "Only then did we become aware that the helicopter was on fire, when the flames came over the cockpit. There were smoke and heat and flames all around.
"We couldn't get the emergency window open. It's got an escape lever that you've got to pull. A portion of the window is a sliding window, quite small, about 40cm by 25cm.
"I had to take my helmet off to get through. I put my hands through first. They got burnt, but I got out.
"Daryl got out next. The survival instinct is so strong that you will do whatever you can to get out, but once you're out, you realise that you can't get the others out.
"Willie is a big guy and he was still inside and we could hear him shouting and there were just flames all over, we couldn't get to him. Then he hit out the window and got out.
"It was so lucky. Three guys in a cockpit trying to get out of a burning helicopter through a little window like that."
Cape Times
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Germany
Posts: 275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In the report, the pilot (Louis Venter) refers twice to a single engine. eg "but I had shut down the engine before we rolled" and "The engine was still hot so the fuel ignited".
This seems a little strange for a triple-engined helicopter.
Do you think that this is an error on the part of the pilot (which I hope it isn't) or the journalist (much more feasible, IMHO)?
This seems a little strange for a triple-engined helicopter.
Do you think that this is an error on the part of the pilot (which I hope it isn't) or the journalist (much more feasible, IMHO)?
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Posts: 1,334
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Disregard if someone more experienced comments.
Just remember folks, exposed magnesium burns to produces hydrogen in contact with water. Use foam, CO2, or get away. I know heli pilots are naturally courageous...
Mart
Mart
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 868
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Blimey! What a mess. Glad the crew all got out OK, albeit with some minor injuries.
I was only down at their base in Cape Town a couple of weeks ago. Had a good chat with their Chief Engineer, Don Bacon and he was explaining how well the restoration of the Super Frelon had gone.
Shocked to see the aftermath pics of the crash
Here are a couple of pics of the SF in the Huey Club hangar.
best wishes for a speedy recovery to the crew.
I was only down at their base in Cape Town a couple of weeks ago. Had a good chat with their Chief Engineer, Don Bacon and he was explaining how well the restoration of the Super Frelon had gone.
Shocked to see the aftermath pics of the crash
Here are a couple of pics of the SF in the Huey Club hangar.
best wishes for a speedy recovery to the crew.
