Native Air
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Native Air
Native air just crashed at Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ. Patient on board and everything! Dynamic rollover and loss of tail rotor on impact.
Thank god everybody lived!
Thank god everybody lived!
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From local news, Native Air Crash
A medical helicopter belonging to Native Air makes a hard landing this evening at Mesa's Falcon Field.
A Native Air spokesman says the air ambulance was carrying a trauma patient from the Show Low area when it experienced mechanical problems and made an emergency landing at Falcon Field.
Fox 10's Skyfox was on hand shortly after the chopper went down. From Skyfox, you could see the chopper was tipped over partially on its side as the rotor turned kicking up dirt and dust.
The Mesa Fire Department removed the patient from the medical helicopter.
That person was transported to a second medical helicopter and flown to Scottsdale Osborn Hospital.
Three crew members were slightly injured when the chopper went down. They've also been taken to the hospital. Fire crews doused the chopper with foam to prevent a fire.
An investigation is being launched.
A Native Air spokesman says the air ambulance was carrying a trauma patient from the Show Low area when it experienced mechanical problems and made an emergency landing at Falcon Field.
Fox 10's Skyfox was on hand shortly after the chopper went down. From Skyfox, you could see the chopper was tipped over partially on its side as the rotor turned kicking up dirt and dust.
The Mesa Fire Department removed the patient from the medical helicopter.
That person was transported to a second medical helicopter and flown to Scottsdale Osborn Hospital.
Three crew members were slightly injured when the chopper went down. They've also been taken to the hospital. Fire crews doused the chopper with foam to prevent a fire.
An investigation is being launched.
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It was an A star...dont know if it was B2 or B3. It happened near the approach end of 22L I believe. Fox 10 was on the scene first because they were actually at the US60 about 5 miles south of FFZ and heard the call...they begged and pleaded but the Falcon controllers wouldnt let anyone into the airspace until they had landed (crashed). The helicopter reportedly started spinning around about 35 feet AGL and hit hard collapsing one side of the skids. One nurse escaped immediately while two crew members were temporarly trapped until they could get the blades stopped.
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The following is from a friend who lives near FFZ:
It was on the news that evening,
the helicopter lost hydraulic and the pilot headed for the turf at falcon, he had radioed ahead to the tower and was heard by the news chopper 10, we got to see the crash in all its glory.
It hit hard, rolled 45degrees right, broke onto three pieces and the rotor kept turning…
It looked like a wounded animal thrashing about in the dirt at the end of the turf.
Three or four large helicopter pieces twisting and writhing in great pain, then the crash truck arrived and squirted foam into the intake choking the last breath from the turbine.
It bleached and coughed one more time as though in the throws of certain death…it died..
The medic and pilot crawled out the broken windscreen and left side door.
The flight nurse and patient remained in the wreckage awaiting the assistance of the fire department..
No one was seriously injured…
The helicopter looked like a pile of wrecked parts awaiting pick-up along the edge of the turf and taxiway as though discarded by a careless landscaper who had just cleaned up a yard full of miscellaneous metal debris. While only a moment before was a million dollar piece of equipment shining in all it’s glory now to be regulated to the scrap heap.. it is a total loss..
It was on the news that evening,
the helicopter lost hydraulic and the pilot headed for the turf at falcon, he had radioed ahead to the tower and was heard by the news chopper 10, we got to see the crash in all its glory.
It hit hard, rolled 45degrees right, broke onto three pieces and the rotor kept turning…
It looked like a wounded animal thrashing about in the dirt at the end of the turf.
Three or four large helicopter pieces twisting and writhing in great pain, then the crash truck arrived and squirted foam into the intake choking the last breath from the turbine.
It bleached and coughed one more time as though in the throws of certain death…it died..
The medic and pilot crawled out the broken windscreen and left side door.
The flight nurse and patient remained in the wreckage awaiting the assistance of the fire department..
No one was seriously injured…
The helicopter looked like a pile of wrecked parts awaiting pick-up along the edge of the turf and taxiway as though discarded by a careless landscaper who had just cleaned up a yard full of miscellaneous metal debris. While only a moment before was a million dollar piece of equipment shining in all it’s glory now to be regulated to the scrap heap.. it is a total loss..
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As mentioned above, and this came directly from the PR guy for Native Air, it was a B3.
Here is part of Mike's email to me.
"Our Helicopter An AS350 B3 was enroute from Showlow to Scottsdale with a patient on board. The pilot got a hydraulic light, was near Falcon
Field, requested an emergency landing, and was cleared."
Autorotate.
Here is part of Mike's email to me.
"Our Helicopter An AS350 B3 was enroute from Showlow to Scottsdale with a patient on board. The pilot got a hydraulic light, was near Falcon
Field, requested an emergency landing, and was cleared."
Autorotate.
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I witnessed the accident from the ground. As the aircraft descended below approximately 50 feet it started spinning. After the third revolution the aircraft was making some very large pitch oscillations. It hit the ground as described in a previous post very near the helipad on the Bravo Taxiway between the turf and the Echo Ramp.
At least two ENG aircraft were on the scene before rescue personnel who responded very quickly.
At least two ENG aircraft were on the scene before rescue personnel who responded very quickly.
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I've only flown the B and not the B3, so I don't know precisely if there is a difference in the hydraulics.
There is no way in the B that a hydraulic failure would cause you to have such a catastrophic landing. Surely something else must have happened as well?
There is no way in the B that a hydraulic failure would cause you to have such a catastrophic landing. Surely something else must have happened as well?
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There is really no comparison between the B and the B-3 when it comes to a complete loss of hydraulics. 1950kgs up to 2250kgs MTOW for a start and 847shp!
If the pilot let the nose start to yaw to the left and was not strong enough in the legs to apply pedal - even though the B-3 has a yaw compensator, he would have lost it. The fact that the eye witness says the helicopter had started to pitch erratically re-enforces this. The helicopter will only yaw if the pilot tries to do a low speed/hover touchdown and applies power. The collective is easier to raise (hydraulics off) - than to lower.
This is why the Flight Manual recomends keeping ETL and making a running landing.
Be careful out there.
If the pilot let the nose start to yaw to the left and was not strong enough in the legs to apply pedal - even though the B-3 has a yaw compensator, he would have lost it. The fact that the eye witness says the helicopter had started to pitch erratically re-enforces this. The helicopter will only yaw if the pilot tries to do a low speed/hover touchdown and applies power. The collective is easier to raise (hydraulics off) - than to lower.
This is why the Flight Manual recomends keeping ETL and making a running landing.
Be careful out there.
I'm amazed that the forces would be that high; even a 212 can be flown happily with no TR hydraulics. Is not a servo jam, or some other form of TR control jam more likely?
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Whatsarunway -
The B-3 as with all previous models has only one hydraulic system with accumulators. This is - I am told - the reason why the B-3 has the same MTOW internal of 2250kgs as the B-2 - even though the external limit is higher - at 2800kgs.
The new EC130/B-4 has dual hydraulics from the AS355 and hence the higher MTOW of 2400kgs. Rumour has it that there may be an increase one day - it certainly has the performance to handle it!
The B-3 has the large tail rotor from AS355N and no strake on the tail boom as the B-2 - so is a bit more of a handful with no hydraulics.
The B-3 as with all previous models has only one hydraulic system with accumulators. This is - I am told - the reason why the B-3 has the same MTOW internal of 2250kgs as the B-2 - even though the external limit is higher - at 2800kgs.
The new EC130/B-4 has dual hydraulics from the AS355 and hence the higher MTOW of 2400kgs. Rumour has it that there may be an increase one day - it certainly has the performance to handle it!
The B-3 has the large tail rotor from AS355N and no strake on the tail boom as the B-2 - so is a bit more of a handful with no hydraulics.
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A unnamed individual posted on www.justhelicopters.com that this B3 in particular was extremely difficult to fly without HYD assist. Normally, most Astars are not too difficult to control without HYD.
Your 212 T/R system is far more difficult to control W/O boost than any 350 series.
Your 212 T/R system is far more difficult to control W/O boost than any 350 series.
