B206 bingle Coffs Harbour April 2014

[John Eacott]

Two injured in chopper crash at Coffs Harbour

Two men have been injured in a helicopter crash at Coffs Harbour airport on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

The Bell 206 4 seater helicopter stalled about 30 metres above ground after taking off just before 7am.

The pilot tried to regain control of the helicopter but it fell to the ground.

Its tail broke off as it crashed.

Police, fire and ambulance crews responded to the crash, finding two men with non-life-threatening injuries.

Both were taken to Coffs Harbour Base Hospital in a stable condition, with one complaining of back pain.

Police say the men, aged 58 and 62, are from Tasmania.

The helicopter wreckage remains in a paddock at the airport.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is expected to investigate the crash.

No wonder the ABC is held in such low regard with awful journalism like this!

[Arm out the window]

Apart from the dumb reference to stalling, it's not that bad ... not too much speculation or overblown emotive references to death plummets and so on.

[chopjock]

If you over pitch a helicopter and settle with power, that could be described as stalling couldn't it?

[roundsounds]

He obviously let the clutch out too quickly, that's why it stalled!

[topendtorque]

He obviously let the clutch out too quickly, that's why it stalled!

Get a grip on yourself, you should know that it is only Robinsons which are sophisticated enough to have a clutch. Bells are like the good old quad box B Model Mack truck with full on crash gearbox.

[Arm out the window]

'Chipper' said the plane flipped due to a bad landing.

"The plane is r**ted, but they're OK," he said.

(from fixed wing thread about crash at Bacchus Marsh)


Get rid of this Geoffrey Thomas bloke, they should get Chipper to do all the commentary from now on, he seems to have a pretty good handle on the relevant facts!

[Ascend Charlie]

The helicopter wreckage remains in a paddock at the airport

Lucky that this airport had a helicopter storage paddock to keep it in, Bankstown would have had to put it on the roof of Bunnings.

[icedriver]

I bet he still gets charged for parking though!

[Alan Biles]

Dreadful journalism! The guy is obviously a complete amateur, fancy leaving out the bit about wrestling with the controls to avoid a school!

[powerlimited]

Doesn't a JetRanger have 5 seats, whilst we are all praising the journalist?!