Hours flown vs. emergency situations
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Hours flown vs. emergency situations
I'd be interested to know the following... Hours flown vs. emergency situations... i.e.
Up to X amount of pic hrs = What % of heli pilots have encounter a "Land now" failure/problem on the aircraft.
A - Zero to 1000hrs = ?%
B - 1001 to 2500 hrs = ?%
C - 2501 to 5000hrs = ?%
D - 5001 to 7500hrs = ?%
E - 7501 to 10000hrs = ?%
F - 10001hrs to 15,000 = ?%
G - 15,001 to 20000 = ?%
H - 20001 plus = ?%
As I'm about to hit 3000hrs I can't help but think more and more about "When" as oppose to "If" the engine or a major component decides to quit!
In order to be definitive, the criteria should really be... Have you ever had to land immediately due to the failure of a component where further flight was not possible?
Please answer the question with A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H and then state the nature of the emergency…
Thanks.....
Up to X amount of pic hrs = What % of heli pilots have encounter a "Land now" failure/problem on the aircraft.
A - Zero to 1000hrs = ?%
B - 1001 to 2500 hrs = ?%
C - 2501 to 5000hrs = ?%
D - 5001 to 7500hrs = ?%
E - 7501 to 10000hrs = ?%
F - 10001hrs to 15,000 = ?%
G - 15,001 to 20000 = ?%
H - 20001 plus = ?%
As I'm about to hit 3000hrs I can't help but think more and more about "When" as oppose to "If" the engine or a major component decides to quit!
In order to be definitive, the criteria should really be... Have you ever had to land immediately due to the failure of a component where further flight was not possible?
Please answer the question with A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H and then state the nature of the emergency…
Thanks.....
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C. Transmission seizure at 1500' on an RAF Puma in Belize with a very undignified arrival in a jungle swamp. Needed new underwear.
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B) Bell47
Loss of power at 800ft Gnd / 7'400 MSL
Sunny day, no wind, –15C
A bold between the throttle and the cambox was broken
Engine runs in idle only
Normal autorotate in a snowfield
Mechanic’s has repair it a few hours later
In the evening flown back to my Homebase
Loss of power at 800ft Gnd / 7'400 MSL
Sunny day, no wind, –15C
A bold between the throttle and the cambox was broken
Engine runs in idle only
Normal autorotate in a snowfield
Mechanic’s has repair it a few hours later
In the evening flown back to my Homebase
"Just a pilot"
A- Main GB dumps lube (long time ago, I don't remember how I was made aware... The long time down to Mother Earth IS etched in my memory)
YOu didn't ask for multiple entries...
YOu didn't ask for multiple entries...
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Something over 12,000 hours (I haven't kept close track in awhile) and I've never had a major problem. One transmission oil pressure light in an AS350D, caused by a pinched o-ring, but Aerospatiale said it would run for 30 minutes without oil. I still had a quart or so left when I finally found a platform. 
Same AStar developed a leak in the fuel manifold behind the engine, and had been spraying fuel onto the combustion chamber for awhile, but apparently it sprayed enough to cool things down. I found it on postflight, and wondered how that water got in there. 
Lots of chip lights along the way, but nothing catastrophic. The lesson from these is to always believe the light. One chip from a 206B transmission light had a number on it. 
But almost all of these occurred before takeoff or after landing, few in flight. 
Same AStar developed a leak in the fuel manifold behind the engine, and had been spraying fuel onto the combustion chamber for awhile, but apparently it sprayed enough to cool things down. I found it on postflight, and wondered how that water got in there. Lots of chip lights along the way, but nothing catastrophic. The lesson from these is to always believe the light. One chip from a 206B transmission light had a number on it. But almost all of these occurred before takeoff or after landing, few in flight.
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B= Total hydraulic failure in a 206, a pipe connector had come loose and discharged the contents all over the decking, flew back (about 5-10mins) cleaned, repaired withoin 2 hours back in the air.
B= Total electric failure in an AS350, flew back to base. new battery installed, earth cable replaced carried on.
Not too bad sofar in helicopters...BUT...two engine failures within within 140hrs!
Merry christmas to all and a much better new year
Rick
PS: two engine failures in FIXED WING within 140hrs
Rick
B= Total electric failure in an AS350, flew back to base. new battery installed, earth cable replaced carried on.
Not too bad sofar in helicopters...BUT...two engine failures within within 140hrs!
Merry christmas to all and a much better new year
Rick
PS: two engine failures in FIXED WING within 140hrs
Rick
10,000 hours plus and not counting...
One complete and rather sudden engine failure....H500D at 9,800 feet coming off a low mountain in Alaska. Found the ground without a mark on the aircraft....did need a new seat cushion and a pair of trousers. That is way, way, way too high for that to happen.
Cockpit fire in a CH-47A....Utility Hydraulic system sprung a leak and caught fire after a .51 caliber round passed through my side of the cockpit removing the left pedal from under my foot. Melted the aluminum skin halfway back on the side of the aircraft. Aircraft had to be slung out for rebuild in the USA. Needed new pants and gloves after that one. This is my claim to flame story.
UH-1D....tail rotor failure at a hover. Spectator to this event. Other guy was driving. No damage.
One complete and rather sudden engine failure....H500D at 9,800 feet coming off a low mountain in Alaska. Found the ground without a mark on the aircraft....did need a new seat cushion and a pair of trousers. That is way, way, way too high for that to happen.
Cockpit fire in a CH-47A....Utility Hydraulic system sprung a leak and caught fire after a .51 caliber round passed through my side of the cockpit removing the left pedal from under my foot. Melted the aluminum skin halfway back on the side of the aircraft. Aircraft had to be slung out for rebuild in the USA. Needed new pants and gloves after that one. This is my claim to flame story.
UH-1D....tail rotor failure at a hover. Spectator to this event. Other guy was driving. No damage.
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Around 5000 hours, B206, AS350B, AS355. No major dramas, just chip lights. T/R x 2, 1 leading to overhaul, one not significant; MGBX x 1, lead to overhaul, Engine x 2, one false, one carbon build up. No electrical or hydraulic failures. No engine failures or loss of power.
Pretty good so far, but I'm not relying on it!
Pretty good so far, but I'm not relying on it!
It's not just an adventure....
it's just a job!
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Merry Xmas All!
7700 hours and nothing major yet! Knock on wood!
A: S61A Catastrophic Failure of MGB on Start! Lucky!
OffshoreIgor
7700 hours and nothing major yet! Knock on wood!
A: S61A Catastrophic Failure of MGB on Start! Lucky!
OffshoreIgor
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5700 in total. Have had a few problems with time to think/plan/sort out but only 2 "Land Nows!"
B - had a Battery decide to boil over - got a bit smelly to say the least.
and C - switched on the wipers on finals at which point the motor decided to burn out filling the cockpit with smelly smoke. Completed approach with head half out the window - not my best or most precise landing ever but it was quick!!
B - had a Battery decide to boil over - got a bit smelly to say the least.
and C - switched on the wipers on finals at which point the motor decided to burn out filling the cockpit with smelly smoke. Completed approach with head half out the window - not my best or most precise landing ever but it was quick!!
Avoid imitations
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Quote: "7700 hours and nothing major yet! Knock on wood!"
7700? I would be VERY careful not to squawk about that number...
7700? I would be VERY careful not to squawk about that number...
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I guess it really depends what aircraft you're flying in,
I guess it really depends what aircraft you're flying in, I have friends who have had everything happen to them in 2000 hours, engine failures, gearbox failures, fires, etc. but mostly took place on pistons or on old wornout aircraft, working for companies who had these old aircraft because they couldn't afford new ones.
Myself and the group of pilots I work with have rarely ever had anything else than hydraulic leaks, and I once had the XMSN oil go over sea on a 212, which was pretty stressful but that is about it,
The reason is because most helicopters around here are new, and all maintenance is done by the book, no expense spared. For example the local offshore company has a requirement to fly only 412's that have less than 5000 hours or have less than 10 years, when these aircraft pass their mark they end up flying elsewhere. All maintenance personell is trained at Bell and they all take great pride to work with aircraft.
Don't get me wrong, I just flew last week the longest flying JetRanger in the world according to Bell, but it looks as nice as the day it came out of the factory, and you could eat of the engine covers, but if you fly for a cheap company flying old aircraft you will have plenty of stories to tell the kids, if you are lucky.
Myself and the group of pilots I work with have rarely ever had anything else than hydraulic leaks, and I once had the XMSN oil go over sea on a 212, which was pretty stressful but that is about it,
The reason is because most helicopters around here are new, and all maintenance is done by the book, no expense spared. For example the local offshore company has a requirement to fly only 412's that have less than 5000 hours or have less than 10 years, when these aircraft pass their mark they end up flying elsewhere. All maintenance personell is trained at Bell and they all take great pride to work with aircraft.
Don't get me wrong, I just flew last week the longest flying JetRanger in the world according to Bell, but it looks as nice as the day it came out of the factory, and you could eat of the engine covers, but if you fly for a cheap company flying old aircraft you will have plenty of stories to tell the kids, if you are lucky.
It's not just an adventure....
it's just a job!
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ShyQ
Oh ****e! I never thought about it that way! Now I will have to hide forever! LOL.
Its not just an adventure....It's JUST A JOB!
Merry XMas
OffshoreIgor
Oh ****e! I never thought about it that way! Now I will have to hide forever! LOL.
Its not just an adventure....It's JUST A JOB!
Merry XMas
OffshoreIgor
A - hydraulic jack on Puma undercarridge blew its end off when lowering the gear at night. Had to refuel in the hover (with no AP) while the engineers built a sandbag platform to land the nose on (This was the first time it had happened. They were more prepared for subsequent similar problems)
B - engine failure in a Whirlwind @1500ft. Auto into a convenient field.
D - rear pockets on a Puma tailroror blade came unstuck (!). Huge vibration. Put it down in another Belizian swamp. Considerable repairs required to cracks around the pylon (even though only flying for about 60 secs after the incident). Flew it out a week later.
Now on 9k. Nothing else of interest - still touching wood.
B - engine failure in a Whirlwind @1500ft. Auto into a convenient field.
D - rear pockets on a Puma tailroror blade came unstuck (!). Huge vibration. Put it down in another Belizian swamp. Considerable repairs required to cracks around the pylon (even though only flying for about 60 secs after the incident). Flew it out a week later.
Now on 9k. Nothing else of interest - still touching wood.
Yikes! I think I should get another job!
6300 hours TT. Lost count of incidents but without trawling through my logbooks, here are the memorable ones.
JP3 - Port U/C collapse on landing despite 3 greens. 130TT
Hunter - Compressor blades crept to touch the casing. Radar 1 in 1 PFL to Yeovilton with 250' cloud break. (Just a pax) 40TT
Gazelle - Squeel from Engine caused by FCU bearing failure. No power loss. 700TT
Wessex - 2 engine run-downs, 1 run-up and 3 freezes in 700 hours! Also fully developed retreating blade stall at 100ft low-level. I learnt about flying (and brown trousers) from that! 700TT
Puma - Starter motor fire on start-up. Wire strike in Belize - the army had helpfully strung a comms antenna across the airstrip we were using! No 2 Oil Px failure IMC 100 miles out to sea with a 50kt head-wind (very long time to shore!). No 2 Hydraulic failure in Turkey. Also FOD ingestion in Tail Rotor (100m of mine tape) landing in Turkey. MGB Px failure due to Eurocopter leaving a 1kg bag of silica gel in the rotor shaft after servicing. Gearbox cowling detached in flight and damaged all 4 main blades (I learnt about student walk-rounds from that!). Rather amusing (in retrospect) genuine brown trouser incident after dodgy curry the night before when coming in to land at Fox Covert DZ. Rapid shutdown and generous application of kimwipe to effected area required. (Geoff Longmuir the crewman was a real gent and didn't even break the news to the Sqn when we got back!) 1200TT
AB205 - Engine failure in mountains at 200ft in climb out. (this one was a write off - but we all walked away!!!) Compressor stall at high altitude during sling-load ops. 700TT
AB212 - only did 70 hrs TT and still managed a No2 oil px failure at night over the desert. 70TT
A109 - No 2 engine failure IMC with no autopilot. Several CHIPs. 200TT
Rotorway Exec - Engine failure at 150ft on climb out. Engine failure during autorotation flare recovery. 150TT
AS350 - Fire Warning light - spurious (Yesterday!) 1400TT
J
6300 hours TT. Lost count of incidents but without trawling through my logbooks, here are the memorable ones.
JP3 - Port U/C collapse on landing despite 3 greens. 130TT
Hunter - Compressor blades crept to touch the casing. Radar 1 in 1 PFL to Yeovilton with 250' cloud break. (Just a pax) 40TT
Gazelle - Squeel from Engine caused by FCU bearing failure. No power loss. 700TT
Wessex - 2 engine run-downs, 1 run-up and 3 freezes in 700 hours! Also fully developed retreating blade stall at 100ft low-level. I learnt about flying (and brown trousers) from that! 700TT
Puma - Starter motor fire on start-up. Wire strike in Belize - the army had helpfully strung a comms antenna across the airstrip we were using! No 2 Oil Px failure IMC 100 miles out to sea with a 50kt head-wind (very long time to shore!). No 2 Hydraulic failure in Turkey. Also FOD ingestion in Tail Rotor (100m of mine tape) landing in Turkey. MGB Px failure due to Eurocopter leaving a 1kg bag of silica gel in the rotor shaft after servicing. Gearbox cowling detached in flight and damaged all 4 main blades (I learnt about student walk-rounds from that!). Rather amusing (in retrospect) genuine brown trouser incident after dodgy curry the night before when coming in to land at Fox Covert DZ. Rapid shutdown and generous application of kimwipe to effected area required. (Geoff Longmuir the crewman was a real gent and didn't even break the news to the Sqn when we got back!) 1200TT
AB205 - Engine failure in mountains at 200ft in climb out. (this one was a write off - but we all walked away!!!) Compressor stall at high altitude during sling-load ops. 700TT
AB212 - only did 70 hrs TT and still managed a No2 oil px failure at night over the desert. 70TT
A109 - No 2 engine failure IMC with no autopilot. Several CHIPs. 200TT
Rotorway Exec - Engine failure at 150ft on climb out. Engine failure during autorotation flare recovery. 150TT
AS350 - Fire Warning light - spurious (Yesterday!) 1400TT
J
Avoid imitations
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offshoreigor,
Quick, Get out there and do one more hour... and be careful
I'm not really superstitious.......Touch wood!
Merry Christmas to you, too.
Most scary one for me was the time my Puma made the most awful noise grinding noise from the main gearbox area. We really thought the main gearbox was breaking up and my initial thought was to put it down on the trees (Belize jungle, at low level over 200 foot trees at the time). Thankfully I didn't as it was only (!) pump cavitation caused by a major hydraulic leak in the nose gear system that dumped all the fluid in about five seconds. My reactions were pretty quick in those days and the u/c came down as we turned round in very short order and went back to the jungle helipad. Just as well because there was only about ten minutes fuel and there were no facilities to land on sandbags at the destination (Rideau camp). Stranded us for about half a day. About 600 hours ish.
Strange how so many of these were in Belize......
Quick, Get out there and do one more hour... and be careful
I'm not really superstitious.......Touch wood!
Merry Christmas to you, too.
Most scary one for me was the time my Puma made the most awful noise grinding noise from the main gearbox area. We really thought the main gearbox was breaking up and my initial thought was to put it down on the trees (Belize jungle, at low level over 200 foot trees at the time). Thankfully I didn't as it was only (!) pump cavitation caused by a major hydraulic leak in the nose gear system that dumped all the fluid in about five seconds. My reactions were pretty quick in those days and the u/c came down as we turned round in very short order and went back to the jungle helipad. Just as well because there was only about ten minutes fuel and there were no facilities to land on sandbags at the destination (Rideau camp). Stranded us for about half a day. About 600 hours ish.
Strange how so many of these were in Belize......
Last edited by ShyTorque; 19th Dec 2004 at 11:25.
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In my first 500 hours of flight time I had a bird strike in a Hughes 500, two windshield seperations in a Hughes 300, and an engine failure in a Hughes 300. I also had low rotor RPM on approach due to a belt failure during a rotorway 162 test flight
Also in this same time frame in fixed wing aircraft I had a vacuum pump failure, a hydrolic failure, another bird strike, and a dispropotionate flap failure (only 1 flap down)
I think I have had enough emergencies for now.
Also in this same time frame in fixed wing aircraft I had a vacuum pump failure, a hydrolic failure, another bird strike, and a dispropotionate flap failure (only 1 flap down)
I think I have had enough emergencies for now.
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Enstrom (what else ?) valve failure on second solo cross country. High speed run on into area next to township (SA), bent pitot tube only. Getting out of township was however brown trouser operation. 42 hours TT
Spurious engine chip light, B206 doing film work at 2000 TT.
Spurious engine chip light, B206 doing film work at 2000 TT.
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Old Beefer.... Now I know who you are! In my groundcrew days, I was on the team that recovered your ac from the swamp. One hell of a crash 
Jellycopter.... So, you s**t yourself in the cockpit. You had the audacity to criticise the student at Shawbury who swamped the seat and didn't tell anyone until Jean-Pierre sat on it. John, I am afraid that you will never be allowed to live this down
Jellycopter.... So, you s**t yourself in the cockpit. You had the audacity to criticise the student at Shawbury who swamped the seat and didn't tell anyone until Jean-Pierre sat on it. John, I am afraid that you will never be allowed to live this down