Helicopter down in East River, NYC
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Helicopter down in East River, NYC
Sky news reporting that a helicopter has crashed in to the East River in Mahattan.
https://news.sky.com/story/helicopte...apped-11286757
Looks like a Squirrel. Video footage here
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/11...ports-say.html
https://news.sky.com/story/helicopte...apped-11286757
Looks like a Squirrel. Video footage here
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/11...ports-say.html
It looks like it would've been ideal to whack on the Main Rotor Brake as soon as touchdown occurred. It would stop the blades whacking the water faster as it rolled, and a quicker exit for passengers.
I wonder if that is a requirement during ditching?
Condolences to the ones who didn't make it.
I wonder if that is a requirement during ditching?
Condolences to the ones who didn't make it.
Rotorbrake is never applied during a ditching as this will cause the helicopter to yaw making the whole situation worse. You wait until the blades stop turning and sometimes you're even lucky enough and the helicopter will stay upright. The egress procedure we get taught in the military is to wait until all violent motion stops before exiting the aircraft to avoid getting hit by the turning blades on your way out. We have to go through lots of training to be able to execute an egress successfully. And I can say from experience that being upside down strapped into your seat underwater is not the most comfortable position to be in. For an untrained person this doesn't end well most of the time.
Looked like a reasonable auto into water, maybe a little more impact than desired that damaged the right float, causing the eventual rollover. Flat water, may have made it more difficult to judge the flare height and contributed to the hard impact.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBwF...ature=youtu.be
It sounds as though the harnesses the photographers were wearing made it difficult for them to get out.
It sounds as though the harnesses the photographers were wearing made it difficult for them to get out.
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Yep, N350LH called a MAYDAY, then 'East River Engine Failure' on LGA Tower helo freq 126.05. The controller asked him to 'say again' a couple of times. The controller asked if he needed any assistance, one of the other helos said 'it was a MAYDAY La Guardia!'.
Sounds like the pilot climbed out and was on top of the inverted helicopter when a boat arrived from N355AG's radio report of the scene.
The MAYDAY call is about 5:15 into this liveatc.net clip:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kl...2018-2300Z.mp3
For some reason my web browser player seems to mark the same spot on the clip as 10:30 so check there if you can't find the engine failure report at 5:15.
Edited audio of the MAYDAY posted here: https://clyp.it/wobx3yfk
Sounds like the pilot climbed out and was on top of the inverted helicopter when a boat arrived from N355AG's radio report of the scene.
The MAYDAY call is about 5:15 into this liveatc.net clip:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kl...2018-2300Z.mp3
For some reason my web browser player seems to mark the same spot on the clip as 10:30 so check there if you can't find the engine failure report at 5:15.
Edited audio of the MAYDAY posted here: https://clyp.it/wobx3yfk
Last edited by Airbubba; 12th Mar 2018 at 05:39.
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This looks like one of the "Doors off" type flights for a photo shoot, where the pax are all tethered to the helicopter via harness, rather than a normal seat belt.
With ‘no doors’ the egress should have been easier (once freed from harness). But let’s not forget cold water shock.
Two people were declared dead at the scene, Commissioner Nigro said, and three others were declared dead after being taken to local hospitals, James Long, a Fire Department spokesman, said early Monday morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBwF...ature=youtu.be
It sounds as though the harnesses the photographers were wearing made it difficult for them to get out.
It sounds as though the harnesses the photographers were wearing made it difficult for them to get out.
We shouldn't just assume they were wearing a photographers harness unless it is standard procedure for Liberty to insist on one whenever the door is removed.
It is not uncommon for operators to operate doors off with a regular seatbelt.
Even with all the resources available in a capital city and despite being quickly on scene the last passenger apparently remained trapped for between 30-60 minutes.
This video shows police helicopter dropping divers.
MJB