Pan Am Sikorsky building crash NYC, 1977
At the time, the two 222 pilots would stay in the cockpit during the passenger loading and unloading. Since it was an "in-house" shuttle which was included in the price of the airline ticket, Omniflight and Pan Am considered it a FAR Part 91 operation. Thus, passenger briefings were non-existent.
For this particular flight the lead Pan Am Customer Service Representative walked a group of six people out to load on the left side of the running helicopter. One of them had a piece of luggage that was too large to fit in the cabin. The CSR took the piece and then told him he'd get it back at JFK.
Only two problems: 1) The passenger didn't speak very good English. And, what with the noise of the running 222, even if he did it would have been a confusing situation. 2) The passenger had a large amount of cash in what he thought was his "carry-on" bag. (When a cabin attendant takes your carry-on bag, it's usually because it's too big; what usually happens is they tag it and put it downstairs with the rest of the luggage. You get it back at baggage claim.)
The CSR got them all in, and then went around the nose of the 222 to put the bag in the baggage compartment, which is on the right. As she did, the passenger must have remembered the money in his carry-on. He got out of the helicopter and ducked under the tailboom just aft of the sponsons. But just as he was doing that, the CSR had closed the baggage compartment and now was walking back around the front of the ship. (Timing, right?) Seeing nobody, the man came back under the tailboom again. We figure that the first time, he'd felt the heat of the two engines. Second time, he walked right under the tailboom further aft, and right smack into the tail rotor. Not a pretty sight. His wife was onboard and I got the job of escorting her into the terminal.
Afterward, we all had a big meeting up in the top floor of the Pan Am Building, presided over by the president of the airline himself. All of the management types were congratulating themselves that this was a "one in a million" accident that couldn't have been prevented. Sure it was. "We did everything humanly possible to prevent this." Even I knew better, and said so. Yeah, Mr. Big Mouth even back then. I was not popular in that meeting.
After that, Pan Am/Omniflight instituted pre-boarding briefings, with big signs in multiple languages in the terminal waiting area. One pilot had to be outside of the a/c during rotors-turning loading and unloading.
My lesson? If you leave them to their own devices, unattended passengers *will* walk around the back of the helicopter, possibly right into the tail rotor, guaranteed. So my first choice is to shut down for loading/unloading. Failing that, I get out.
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FH1100, for the record, I was solely responding to OAP's query about a Westland falling off the roof. I was not aware PanAm operated 222s, which I now know was in the early 80's before the Westlands were introduced.
However, I do appreciate your firsthand account of what by all means must have been a tragic and grim sight to witness. One that you'll never forget, I'm sure. Just like the arrogance of "the boss." You're absolutely right about pax not being left to do their own thing. Sorry you had to see and experience something like that, hoping the rest of us never do...
However, I do appreciate your firsthand account of what by all means must have been a tragic and grim sight to witness. One that you'll never forget, I'm sure. Just like the arrogance of "the boss." You're absolutely right about pax not being left to do their own thing. Sorry you had to see and experience something like that, hoping the rest of us never do...
CB, oops! I didn't see the question from Old Age Pilot up there at the top.
Point is, the Bloomberg video kind of glosses over everything that happened after NYA. But in the early 1980's New York Helicopter started up (as a 135 not 121 operation) with a lot of ex-NYA people...good people. NYH was hooked up with TWA at the time. They used (6) SA-360C Dauphins and (3) Sikorsky S-58T's. Crazy times!
Of course Pan Am just couldn't leave well enough alone and entered into a relationship with Omniflight to provide competitive service that connected NYC, JFK and EWR. It started with four 222's and eventually added two WG-30's.
Also around that time (maybe a little later) was a guy who started a NYC (Wall Street Heliport) to JFK service using a couple of A-109's. I wish I could remember the name but old age is a bitch. Helicopter pilots being helicopter pilots, one day one of the 109 guys forgot to lower the gear and...crunch! Expensive crunch. That service didn't last long either. The 109's ended up abandoned in New Jersey, where most things go to die.
I think someone even tried a scheduled service using S-76's.
I guess people will just never learn.
Point is, the Bloomberg video kind of glosses over everything that happened after NYA. But in the early 1980's New York Helicopter started up (as a 135 not 121 operation) with a lot of ex-NYA people...good people. NYH was hooked up with TWA at the time. They used (6) SA-360C Dauphins and (3) Sikorsky S-58T's. Crazy times!
Of course Pan Am just couldn't leave well enough alone and entered into a relationship with Omniflight to provide competitive service that connected NYC, JFK and EWR. It started with four 222's and eventually added two WG-30's.
Also around that time (maybe a little later) was a guy who started a NYC (Wall Street Heliport) to JFK service using a couple of A-109's. I wish I could remember the name but old age is a bitch. Helicopter pilots being helicopter pilots, one day one of the 109 guys forgot to lower the gear and...crunch! Expensive crunch. That service didn't last long either. The 109's ended up abandoned in New Jersey, where most things go to die.
I think someone even tried a scheduled service using S-76's.
I guess people will just never learn.
Actually one might have seen the accident coming.
My office at the time had a fine view north over Manhattan and the helicopters coming in for the Pan Am heliport.
The difference between the immaculate corporate machines and the dirty and bedraggled NYA units was very striking.
It was clear they were being ridden hard and put away wet. So they were most vulnerable to an unexpected weakness.
My office at the time had a fine view north over Manhattan and the helicopters coming in for the Pan Am heliport.
The difference between the immaculate corporate machines and the dirty and bedraggled NYA units was very striking.
It was clear they were being ridden hard and put away wet. So they were most vulnerable to an unexpected weakness.
Arguably neither accident had anything to do with the fact that it was a rooftop operation (did I say this before?). Still the events had such a traumatic effect that not only did they factually put an end to New York City rooftop ops, but also created the urban legend that the Pan Am Helipad was closed down after the 1977 ground accident (both stated with authority here by some posters, as well as in the Bloomberg video). While we now learned that others airlines revived operations in the 1980s.
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And to FH1100 Pilot, that is a truly awful thing to have witnessed. I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say that if you've been in the game long enough, you'll have come across at least one very awful thing along the way
