A bit too close for comfort!
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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A bit too close for comfort!
Found this vid on Youtube last night......
Anyone have a spare pair of underpants for the chap at the left rear?
Anyone have a spare pair of underpants for the chap at the left rear?
Not sure what possessed the pilot to try and lift with a man under the disc near the tail. The groundie was probably looking at the evidence of the TR drive failure and could have prevented the pilot getting airborne if he had been given half a chance. What a lucky guy!!!if he had nine lives, he used them all up then!
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What the hell is wrong with people. There appears to be absolutley no proceedure in place for helideck operations. The pitch, roll and heave look to be out of limits, well the pitch and heave at any rate.
As for the helicopter, using the 480 with its single engine and with no floatation equipment in that enviroment is just a recipe for disaster.
That is one very, very lucky pilot.
As for the helicopter, using the 480 with its single engine and with no floatation equipment in that enviroment is just a recipe for disaster.
That is one very, very lucky pilot.
Combine Operations
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It's always so easy to criticise after the event, and from a distance, but I think a prize could be offered to the first person who finds an example of a safe practice going on here.
How many examples of a safe landing have there been after tail rotor failure? And on a moving deck? Is it possible he took off inadvertently, when the deck fell away? A miraculous escape for all involved. That could have been very messy indeed.
How many examples of a safe landing have there been after tail rotor failure? And on a moving deck? Is it possible he took off inadvertently, when the deck fell away? A miraculous escape for all involved. That could have been very messy indeed.
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I know this incident happened on a Greenpeace tub. I also know that not all of these boys and girls (enthousiastic as they are)are highly professional boatcrews.
The story was that the lift-off was unintentional (obviously no hands on the controls) and when he corrected he slammed the tail to the deck and was lucky enough to dump the 480 on the deck net.
The story was that the lift-off was unintentional (obviously no hands on the controls) and when he corrected he slammed the tail to the deck and was lucky enough to dump the 480 on the deck net.
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And that is why we have deck nets ladies and gents. Had there not been one, the aircraft would almost certainly have continued spinning and left the deck or hit the superstructure.
Lucky!
Lucky!
The groundie was probably looking at the evidence of the TR drive failure and could have prevented the pilot getting airborne
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Extremely lucky chaps. You can see the ship start to pitch/heave and the aircraft gets airborne as it's not fastened down. The guy on the starboard side is so lucky but he probably had no idea the a/c would lift off. How the hell the pilot managed to keep the a/c onboard is unbelievable. Good piloting skills or a spot of luck?
As mentioned above, sea state is obviously out of limits for the equipment available and a/c.
As mentioned above, sea state is obviously out of limits for the equipment available and a/c.
Barndweller,
General practice is when skid equipped helicopters routinely use a helideck, a surface net is not recommended. Admittedly the net appeared to reduce the turn rate but only because the tie down snapped and he probably shut down pronto at the same time.
Reason: Front and/or more likely the back of the skids can easily get snagged in the surface net leading to dynamic rollover.
Ref: CAP 437 5th Edition Chapt 3, 1.2 Note at the bottom of the table.
Pilot did remarkably well though after the inadvertant lift off.
pp.
General practice is when skid equipped helicopters routinely use a helideck, a surface net is not recommended. Admittedly the net appeared to reduce the turn rate but only because the tie down snapped and he probably shut down pronto at the same time.
Reason: Front and/or more likely the back of the skids can easily get snagged in the surface net leading to dynamic rollover.
Ref: CAP 437 5th Edition Chapt 3, 1.2 Note at the bottom of the table.
Pilot did remarkably well though after the inadvertant lift off.
pp.
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Enstrom for sale
Deathstrom for sale, (er I mean Enstrom). I careful owner, slight damage to tail rotor, brown staining on front seats, smells slightly of hippies, cannabis and seawater, runs on lentils and chicken****.
1-800 GREENPEACE
Save the Whale
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1-800 GREENPEACE
Save the Whale
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The heave isn't that bad - I've landed on many vessels moving that much, both barges and seismic vessels. You do have to pay attention all the time you're on the deck, though. Putting skids on nets like that is begging for dynamic rollover and slipping around. The skids are only touching wet rope in a very few places, and thus move around easily. The potential for getting the end of a skid underneath the rope as it moves and thus rolling over is very high.
My initial take, from just watching the video and knowing nothing else, is that nobody knew what they were doing. The pilot apparently wasn't paying attention while sitting there, and the crew started trying to repair the net with the blades still turning. It's amazing that the right front skid didn't get caught during the initial movement, and that the rear crewman didn't get hit by the tail rotor. Helicopter ops on vessels are no place for amateurs.
My initial take, from just watching the video and knowing nothing else, is that nobody knew what they were doing. The pilot apparently wasn't paying attention while sitting there, and the crew started trying to repair the net with the blades still turning. It's amazing that the right front skid didn't get caught during the initial movement, and that the rear crewman didn't get hit by the tail rotor. Helicopter ops on vessels are no place for amateurs.
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Well I have not landed on a ship but I think the pilot lost track of where the hell he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Glad to see no one was injured or worse. Pay attention!!!!
I stand corrected Mighty Gem, on closer inspection it is clear he trashes the TR when he smacks the tail in.
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PP.
Fair point. The risk you describe can be minimised though, by properly maintaining the net and ensuring it is correctly tensioned. A net that is loose will prove just as big a hazard for a wheeled helicopter as for a skidded one.
Cheers
Barny
Fair point. The risk you describe can be minimised though, by properly maintaining the net and ensuring it is correctly tensioned. A net that is loose will prove just as big a hazard for a wheeled helicopter as for a skidded one.
Cheers
Barny
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If you look prior to him getting thrown in the air the tail moves up and then settles. The heave may be within limits but the rate of heave when the incident happened was,nt, particularly if he was not used to taking off under these conditions. As previously stated, it all looks a bit amateurish.