Heli went bathing

[Flying Bull]

an AirZermat helicopter touched a cable during an excercise
(taking water from a pond)
The waterlanding and egress of the pilot went successful, unfortunatly the helicopter wasnˋt equipped with floats (seldom in the swiss mountains)
https://www.air-zermatt.ch/wordpress...i-uebungsflug/

https://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/we...id8383667.html

[golfbananajam]

good to hear that the pilot was only lightly injured and that it won't affect this weekends celebrations

From the blick.ch link "Für das Helikopterunternehmen kommt der Unfall zur dümmsten Zeit. Für das Wochenende ist ein zweitägiges Fest auf der Helikopterbasis Raron geplant, weil die Air Zermatt ihren 50. Geburtstag feiert. «Der Zwischenfall hat keinen Einfluss auf die Jubiläums-Feierlichkeiten vom kommenden Wochenende», teilt Air Zermatt jedoch mit" loosly translated to be For the helicopter operator, the accident came at the dummet time. This weekend sees Air Zermatt celebrate the 50th birthday with a 2 day celebration but this accident won't affect the celbrations said Air Zermatt.

[GoodGrief]

'Every pole has a wire. Every lake has a cable.'
First week of PPL ground school.

[r88]

Good grief, that is a stupid thing to say, with the benefit of hindsight

[OvertHawk]

Originally Posted by r88

Good grief, that is a stupid thing to say, with the benefit of hindsight

r88... Why is it a stupid thing to say? I suppose it was the wicked fairies that caused the helicopter to crash rather than a wire strike?

Always assume there is a wire. Even if you can't see it! Even if you've looked for it. Even if you've looked for it twice. Look again. And maybe then you will still miss it and be unlucky.

[TylerMonkey]

Words to live by . . .

[nigelh]

So if you look twice and don’t see it .... do you still not go in ??!!! Surely better to just mark every lake on a gps system that does have a wire as an extra precaution?

[Vertical Freedom]

Originally Posted by GoodGrief

'Every pole has a wire. Every lake has a cable.'
First week of PPL ground school.

totally agree

[skadi]

Originally Posted by nigelh

So if you look twice and don’t see it .... do you still not go in ??!!! Surely better to just mark every lake on a gps system that does have a wire as an extra precaution?

This cable is only a few hundred feet north of their base, they should've seen it more than twice...

skadi

[Twist & Shout]

Originally Posted by skadi

This cable is only a few hundred feet north of their base, they should've seen it more than twice...

skadi

For reasons not fully understood by me, statistics apparently suggest that hitting a wire/cable that is “known about” is far from uncommon. Unfortunately.

[John Eacott]

16.05.2018 - AS 350B3+ Ecureuil HB-ZKF - Baggersee/VS

The preparations to celebrate the 50th anniversary since the creation of Air Zermatt, scheduled for the next 19-20 May, have been overshadowed by an aerial incident occurred this morning shortly after 10 am. Fortunately the pilot reported only minor injuries while the helicopter was seriously damaged.According to information released by Valais canton police in the course of a training flight, the helicopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil with call sign HB-ZKF which was transporting a water bucket hit accidentally some electric wires ending its flight in the Baggersee, a pond situated between the villages of Visp and Raron, near Air Zermatt’s base.
The pilot, who would have reported as said only minor injuries, managed to free himself from the cabin and reach the shore. He was then transported to the Inselspital in Bern.
Emergency services immediately rushed on the spot of the accident. Firefighters assisted by some members of the Upper Valais Section of the Swiss rescue society placed an anti-pollution barrier around the helicopter wrackage that lay half submerged in the pond. A large crane then arrived on site to recover the damaged aircraft.
The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) will investigate to determine the causes of the accident.

Amazing that anyone survived that.

[[email protected]]

Do we think he just forgot he had a bucket underneath?

A telecoms-assisted quickstop perhaps.........

A lucky boy, that's for sure.

[KiwiNedNZ]

Crab - No he didnt just forget he had a bucket underneath. Was talking to the pilot here at Air Zermatt base in Raron earlier today. Was putting the bucket in the water and as is normal practice in many places pulled sideways to help tip it over and fill quicker, and completely lost situational awareness of the wires there. The rest is history.

[heliduck]

Originally Posted by KiwiNedNZ

Was putting the bucket in the water and as is normal practice in many places pulled sideways to help tip it over and fill quicker

Thats an interesting technique, not something I’ve ever need to do either with a longline or if connected direct to the hook. Do they use a Bambi bucket or a different make? If they don’t think it rolls over quickly enough maybe a heavier counterweight would help.
Regardless, if the machine was that close to the wire while filling then how they fill it is probably not the most hazardous part of the operation.

[SuperF]

A lot of buckets want to float on top of the water, and you can see all sorts of interesting maneuvers as guys try to get the bucket to tip over. It is quite common with the light framed rigid buckets.

Our bucket sinks fast, however i have been known to be pulling a lot of sideways while the bucket is filling in a fast flowing river that only has one hole that you can fill in. You end up getting way upstream trying to hold the bucket in the hole, and then having to get over the top as its filling. It is an interesting maneuver, if you let the power down the river drags the bucket out of the hole downstream, if you pull too much power then the bucket comes out of the water and doesn't fill.... Just the right amount of up and down and you get a full load. we didn't have wires to worry about tho

[[email protected]]

So, no malfunction and operating in a familiar area with known obstructions and the helicopter is a write-off - bet his employers are really happy with him...............

[whoknows idont]

I bet his employers are primarily happy that he's still breathing...

[KiwiNedNZ]

Actually Gerold took him flying in the 429 today to get him back in the air again. Yeah they are probably unhappy that he crashed it but are also more happy he is still alive and recovering. And in fact they have already bought a replacement H125 to replace the one that crashed.

[GrayHorizonsHeli]

shoulda got several 505's as replacements.

you know...for spares.

[finalchecksplease]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

So, no malfunction and operating in a familiar area with known obstructions and the helicopter is a write-off - bet his employers are really happy with him...............

Crab, everybody is fallible unless you are the exception?

All the pilots I've met at Air Zermatt are experienced professionals working in challenging conditions but as all humans liable to make mistakes.
Glad to see he got out ok.