UK AAIB Feb 2013

[VeeAny]

Several Helicopter Reports this month.

G-CHZN R22 Fatal Crash Near Ely Cambridge
6 Jan 2012
Main Rotor Divergence and Seperation in flight.
Air Accidents Investigation: Robinson R22 Beta, G-CHZN


G-CCOU S76 19NM North East of Humberside Airport
26 Sep 2012
Returned due to smell of smoke in cockpit
Air Accidents Investigation: Sikorsky S-76C, G-CGOU

G-ORKY AS350B2 Cairngorms National Park
8 Oct 2012
Underslung chain hit tail rotor during transit in turbulence.
Air Accidents Investigation: AS350B2 Ecureuil, G-ORKY

G-BXGA AS350B2 Kettlewell, Yorkshire
16 Oct 2012
Underslung chain hit tail rotor.
Air Accidents Investigation: AS350B2 Ecureuil, G-BXGA

G-FLIT Rotorway Exec 162F Near Haslemere, Surrey
26 Aug 2012
Drive Shaft Failure, originally posted by me as Tail Rotor drive shaft but it seems not to be.
Air Accidents Investigation: Rotorway Executive 162F, G-FLIT

G-BTHI R22 Leicester Airport
14 Aug 2012
Tail Rotor Drive Failure, The exact part of which failed first was undetermined
Air Accidents Investigation: Robinson R22 Beta, G-BTHI

[Bravo73]

http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/507...-bulletin.html

[VeeAny]

And an additional one I missed earlier, which involved a helicopter.

This time an encounter between a microlight and the downwash from an R22.

G-MZED Mainair Blade Microlight, 22 Sep 2012
Eshott Airfled Northumberland.
See Above for details.
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources...ED%2002-13.pdf

[austeriser]

G-CHZN Jan 6th 2012

AAIB accident report now published. Any R22 pilots able to comment?

[Sir Niall Dementia]

The pilot of the Rotorway G-FLIT did remarkably well. I had a T/R failure 18 years ago and definately didn't do such a good job.

I don't know him, but if any one on here does please pass on my best wishes and congratulations.

SND

[Thomas coupling]

veeany/nial: the heading states "Tail rotor Failure", but the statement describes the failure of the drive shaft to the main rotor and the pdf download also discusses the drive shaft failure to the MR head??? Once he closed the throttle, the TR was no longer driven but this is where the free wheel kicked in to keep the tail rotor rotating it says??
Have I missed something................................

[Sir Niall Dementia]

TC;

No you haven't, its' certainly an odd system in an aircraft I've never fancied flying.

I still reckon he did well though.

SND

[VeeAny]

TC

You are indeed correct as far I can see, ive changed the heading in the opening post.

Gary

[Andy Mayes]

G-CHZN Jan 6th 2012

Originally Posted by austeriser

AAIB accident report now published. Any R22 pilots able to comment?

Not a heli driver myself but I found this report quite complicated to understand with all the American stuff copied in.

[RJC]

G-CHZN Jan 6th 2012

AAIB accident report now published. Any R22 pilots able to comment?

Two possibilities perhaps...

Looking at the GPS data the groundspeed appeared to slow with a gain in height and a turn to the left just before the incident. Perhaps there was an element of head inside looking at a chart in the left hand, having not been where he thought he was before passing Cambridge he was working out a new route having been denied the Camb transit. Then either;

a) lookup up and spotting the climb and noticing he was in the MATZ attempted to lose height and/or gain speed with a large forward cyclic movement, heading into Low-G territory.

b) still consulting map, there was carb ice, the governor masked it until the low RRPM horn went off with the resultant rotor stall.

The pilot had come from the fixed wing world, where you can trim an aircraft to fly level and 'easily' consult charts and the like, you simply can't do that in an R22 the workload is higher just to fly straight and level, and you are effectively one handed as you must hold the cyclic all the time. Workload could have been increasing with the incorrect position and the cambridge transit denied causing a lapse to fixed wing response to the final trigger event? It's hard to see how he would have intentionally gone into the MATZ given his previous experience.

I fly the R22 / R44 and also act as ballast and/or navigator in fixed wing with friends so do see the difference in workload just to fly along straight and level once up and trimmed.