ADA AW139 Ditched?
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Aus
It is worth noticing that the crew duly implemented the flight manual procedure, safely terminating the mission and confirming the outstanding reliability and modern design of the world-class leading AW139
Joined: May 2002
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From: Downeast
All's well that ends well!
The Crew and Passengers are safe.
The helicopter is merely a reusable shipping container for its contents!
I might be a scaredy cat but upon the second indication OR hearing odd unusual bad noises from the MGB area......I would have parked it on something solid or on its floats.
Guessing wrong with cast iron failures carries a serious penalty!
The Crew and Passengers are safe.
The helicopter is merely a reusable shipping container for its contents!
I might be a scaredy cat but upon the second indication OR hearing odd unusual bad noises from the MGB area......I would have parked it on something solid or on its floats.
Guessing wrong with cast iron failures carries a serious penalty!
Joined: May 2002
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From: Wanaka, NZ
How many other AW139's have been parked on the water? The only other one I can think of was in Hong Kong, and they had a pretty good reason for parking that one after the tail rotor went for a swim first.
What ever resulted from that Bristow Nigeria S76C++ getting parked in the Atlantic? Discussion on that ran out of steam a long time ago.
What ever resulted from that Bristow Nigeria S76C++ getting parked in the Atlantic? Discussion on that ran out of steam a long time ago.
Joined: Mar 2016
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From: N of 49th parallel
Despite the good outcome, there still needs to be an understanding on why one of the floats failed and the aircraft inverted in what must have been pretty benign conditions.
The obvious question is "are the floats up to the job"? As gulliBell points out we don't have much history to go on.
The obvious question is "are the floats up to the job"? As gulliBell points out we don't have much history to go on.
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Canada
Several helicopter I have flown. RFM States words to this effect:
"Floats are designed to allow enougn time to evacuate the aircraft."
Also activities during evacuation or salvage can easily cause float deflation.
"Floats are designed to allow enougn time to evacuate the aircraft."
Also activities during evacuation or salvage can easily cause float deflation.
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Montreal
Leonardo knows how to handle an incident. Airbus could learn.
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: daworld
malabo, where are you getting "nothing wrong with the transmission". That is absolutely NOT what Leonardo said.
They only said that there was no sign of oil pressure loss and no sign of leakage.
That is VERY different to what you are stating.
So Sultan is on the ball with what he said.
Was there an earlier revision of this letter that said something different???
I see no reason for owners or insurers to be "peeved". Quite the opposite. They should be happy that a statement of known FACTS was released so soon by the Transmission OEM (Leonardo).
They only said that there was no sign of oil pressure loss and no sign of leakage.
That is VERY different to what you are stating.
So Sultan is on the ball with what he said.
Was there an earlier revision of this letter that said something different???
I see no reason for owners or insurers to be "peeved". Quite the opposite. They should be happy that a statement of known FACTS was released so soon by the Transmission OEM (Leonardo).
Joined: Oct 2013
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From: Wherever the work is
To answer Apate's question, we service our own floats at the operation where I work (AW139) and we regularly send them back for repair as they fail the leak checks due to damage/wear/degradation. It's not often we have a full set of floats that pass the annual servicing, at least one or two fail.
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Canada
We do not know when or how the float got deflated. Are not all float bags dual cell?
Just wondering. I don't have a 139 endorsement so am not posting with any knowledge of the float system attached thereto.
Kudos to the crew for their decision to ditch and successfully carry it out.
High temp followed by secondary indications ..Land immediately seems to be the go to procedure.
Second guessing from the comfort of the couch is a PPrune is SOP on this site. Given the inability to climb out of the aircraft in flight, open the cowlings and investigate..the crew had to react to the indications, and secondary indications they were faced with.
I don't think anyone is going to ditch unless they feel that is the best choice regardless of sea state.
The NF 92 accident taught us a lot of lessons.
Just wondering. I don't have a 139 endorsement so am not posting with any knowledge of the float system attached thereto.
Kudos to the crew for their decision to ditch and successfully carry it out.
High temp followed by secondary indications ..Land immediately seems to be the go to procedure.
Second guessing from the comfort of the couch is a PPrune is SOP on this site. Given the inability to climb out of the aircraft in flight, open the cowlings and investigate..the crew had to react to the indications, and secondary indications they were faced with.
I don't think anyone is going to ditch unless they feel that is the best choice regardless of sea state.
The NF 92 accident taught us a lot of lessons.
Joined: Jan 1999
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From: Somewhere
Sea state 4 certification only requires that the aircraft remain upright long enough for the pax to disembark into a raft after having ditched in sea state 4, as far as I know.....I read through it years ago....my memory is not what it once was.
Joined: May 2002
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From: Downeast
I don't have a 139 endorsement so am not posting with any knowledge of the float system attached thereto.
Joined: Sep 2004
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL(H)
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From: Canada
Joined: May 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 18,633
Likes: 1,072
From: Downeast
The photo was not very clear....and my advancing senility may have played a role in my confusing the actual situation however in defense there is not much difference in the end result it would seem.
Joined: May 2002
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From: Downeast
And if one had no video to watch....and there was just the one grainy still image to look at....what would one surmise?
Detached or uninflated....or inflated but leaked down to ambient air pressure....is not the effect the same?
The question was raised about certification requirements and an another person reported failure of at least one bag of four as being common.....and even a dull third grader should wonder about the 139 float system's performance when used in a ditching.
Detached or uninflated....or inflated but leaked down to ambient air pressure....is not the effect the same?
The question was raised about certification requirements and an another person reported failure of at least one bag of four as being common.....and even a dull third grader should wonder about the 139 float system's performance when used in a ditching.
Joined: Aug 1999
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
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From: Gold Coast, Australia
Even fully functioning floats aren't always going to keep a ditched machine upright; I'd say we're chasing a bit of a red herring to make an issue out of one float failing following a successful ditching and escape by all on board.
