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Black Hawk crash Tennessee Feb 2019

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Black Hawk crash Tennessee Feb 2019

Old 7th Mar 2019, 22:24
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Black Hawk crash Tennessee Feb 2019

Black Hawk down FH1100 pilot? You don't know how true thst was....one crashed on its way to the show!

Blackhawk helicopter crashes in Moore County with 2 on board, pilot taken by LifeFlight for treatment



The helicopter that crashed outside Tullahoma, Tennessee, on Thursday afternoon was on the way to an industry trade show in Atlanta.

Arista Aviation Services confirmed Thursday evening that two of its employees were on board a HH-60L Black Hawk helicopter when it crashed in a "deserted" part of Moore County.

As of Thursday evening, the pilots were yet to be identified, pending notification of next of kin.

Both were experienced pilots, Arista said.

One pilot was transported by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center from Tullahoma Airport. The individual reportedly had neck and back injuries.

The other was transported by emergency services to a local hospital for evaluation.

The helicopter went down in a privately-owned field five miles south of Tullahoma, according to Tullahoma spokesperson Winston Brooks confirmed.

At 3:16 p.m., the Coffee County Communications Center received a crash complaint from one of the two pilots, Brooks said in an emailed release.

According to the FAA, the helicopter in question was a Sikorsky HH60

"The FAA will investigate, and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause of the accident. We will release the aircraft registration after local authorities release the names of the aircraft occupants," an emailed statement from the FAA said.

Metro Moore County Emergency Management Agency took charge of the scene Thursday evening.

Arista is based in Enterprise, Alabama. A release from the company said it provides "maintenance and modifications to an assortment of rotor wing platforms operated both domestically and internationally for a variety of missions, which include firefighting and construction."

This coverage is ongoing, check back for updates.

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at [email protected] or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.




Last edited by Senior Pilot; 8th Mar 2019 at 20:55. Reason: Add quote and image
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Old 7th Mar 2019, 23:05
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Old 8th Mar 2019, 16:41
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Didn’t burn, almost made it to an airport. Fuel starvation? Kinda quiet for a rumor forum.
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Old 8th Mar 2019, 16:54
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The 64 Dollar Question is why did it crash in Tennessee....if it was routing from Enterprise, Alabama?

The news articles have not identified the point of takeoff as far as I can tell....so until that is known for sure....routing questions will have to be held.

Was it fuel exhaustion or starvation....two very different issues.

Bad Weather in the area....and trying to scud run and thus going far slower than planned maybe?

Lots of speculation can be made with the scant information available.
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Old 9th Mar 2019, 03:05
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The RUMOR from Heli-Expo was that they encountered worsening weather and perhaps waited a little too long to...what's the expression? "Land the damn helicopter." They chose what appeared to be a suitable site. It wasn't. When they did put it down, trees began piercing the belly of the ship (see photo) and it rolled over. Unfortunate accident. But hey, accidents happen. Just glad the crew wasn't more seriously hurt or killed. I'm sure there are other UH-60's out there that can substitute for this one.
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Old 9th Mar 2019, 12:16
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SAS and FH, depending on the route from Enterprise to Tullahoma and the speed/altitude profile, gross weight, fuel quantity may well have been a factor. One can stretch out an S-70 ( more than you think, actually ) by getting to 10-12k and flying best range speed, but from the posts here to date, that doesn’t appear to be what was going on.

Another thought occurred: Tullahoma is on a direct route from Ft. Campbell to Atlanta, and there may have been Arista business there, thence proceed to ATL. Just a thought. That would change the thinking re fuel.

Last edited by JohnDixson; 9th Mar 2019 at 12:34. Reason: added idea
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Old 9th Mar 2019, 12:40
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John, That would have required them to file and fly IFR I am thinking due to the weather. Assumes my recollection of the prevailing weather is remotely correct.

A Direct Flight from Campbell to Atlanta would be right at 265 NM.
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Old 9th Mar 2019, 17:29
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Several of the posts noted Wx but without specifics and I haven’t looked it up. If they were really going from Campbell to ATL, the alternate requirements may have preculded IFR. The UH-60 flies fine in clouds and ice, but without the wings and (2) 230 gallon aux tanks, IFR cross country is laborious. ( probably there’s a better word, but also probably one that isn’t polite ).

Too many unknowns here. Might have been one of those helicopter vs weather situations that changed enroute, and a little luck was needed, which wasn’t forthcoming. I know, I know-don’t ever get yourself in that position, but there is another side to the story, and that hasn’t surfaced yet.
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Old 10th Mar 2019, 01:31
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One can stretch the fuel a long way by shutting one engine down too.
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Old 10th Mar 2019, 08:04
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One can stretch the fuel a long way by shutting one engine down too.
Good God man - you can't say things like that. EASA civilians read this and may faint in shock.
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Old 10th Mar 2019, 12:01
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But dear boy....there is no place on the Checklist or EOP's for such kinds of thinking!

I suppose there are some who think an Empty Hawk....that happens to be low on fuel will not quite happily fly on a single engine.

In the Twin Engine Wessex of yesterday year....was that not a common practice when on a long distance ferry flight?

Last edited by SASless; 10th Mar 2019 at 14:48.
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Old 10th Mar 2019, 13:29
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The brown coloration of the ground near the top of the cabin section of the fuselage suggests the main rotor head was turning for a few seconds after the fuselage came to rest, excavating soil and placing it on the surrounding forest litter. Could have been only a few rotations, but the rotational inertia would be low at that point, assuming the main rotor blades (not visible in the photo) had already been shed.
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Old 10th Mar 2019, 20:51
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Originally Posted by JohnDixson
The UH-60 flies fine in clouds and ice, but without the wings and (2) 230 gallon aux tanks, IFR cross country is laborious. ( probably there’s a better word, but also probably one that isn’t polite
Yeah, no legs. Gotta have them tanks.
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Old 11th Mar 2019, 01:35
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In the Twin Engine Wessex of yesterday year....was that not a common practice when on a long distance ferry flight?
It was in the offshore business in Oz SAS, all approved by the regulator. Had to be above a certain altitude in order to get the shut down one restarted in the event of a failure in the one you were using, resulted in something like a 25% reduction in fuel burn if I recall correctly what I was told. I think it was used on pax flights as well, because of the range they were operating.
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Old 11th Mar 2019, 05:24
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Still gotta be a story here. Pilots weren’t a couple of Brazilian kids with R22s, nor Nigerian pilots in 139’s finding the ground by Braille. From the drone footage you can see clear landing areas within 100yrds. Looking at the location on google earth it is a patchwork of fields, with the occasional stand of trees, not some endless west coast forest or Amazon jungle.
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Old 11th Mar 2019, 06:16
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Originally Posted by malabo
Still gotta be a story here. Pilots weren’t a couple of Brazilian kids with R22s, nor Nigerian pilots in 139’s finding the ground by Braille. From the drone footage you can see clear landing areas within 100yrds. Looking at the location on google earth it is a patchwork of fields, with the occasional stand of trees, not some endless west coast forest or Amazon jungle.
I have no factual information on this accident.
I'm going to take a guess and say that the visibility got so poor that they took the best spot that they could see. Good on them, there's more UH-60's out there to replace that one.
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Old 11th Mar 2019, 07:12
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Reports say:
both men are retired U.S. Army pilots with 35 years experience flying Black Hawks.
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Old 11th Mar 2019, 12:25
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I'm going to take a guess and say that the visibility got so poor that they took the best spot that they could see.
In the terrain described....it never gets too bad to see and LAND.

As a dedicated Rud Scunner, I saw occasions I could not get up and over a fifty foot power line or had to hover for a minute and blow some of the fog away... and more than once I landed in the middle of no where and shut down waiting for an improvement in the Visibility.

I have been in very similar circumstances as this Crew....ferry flight over new ground....thus a stranger to the area and ran low on fuel....but ALWAYS landed with enough to get to the nearest location that had Jet Fuel.

Worse case scenario....you call for the Fuel Truck to come to you....after you park next to a roadway of some sort.

The key was to go slow as needed and always know where the next fuel point was and always use that as your "Bingo Fuel State" plus that VFR Reserve Fuel you are required to maintain.

Never making flying into the Reserve a habit can be life saving in the end.

If you land out with Reserve Fuel in the tank....you never run out and wind up in the Trees or worse.

The Accident Report will be interesting reading on this one.....and at this time there is not enough information to fairly assess the cause of the crash.

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Old 11th Mar 2019, 14:16
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Watch for the tail...still in the tree.

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Old 11th Mar 2019, 14:53
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Look, this isn't Lion Air or Ethiopian. It's not that complicated. They ran into bad weather and decided to put it down (good news). But they waited a little too long (bad news), chose the wrong site and trashed the ship (worse news). Big deal, it happens. The best news is that they both got out of it and lived to fly another day. Arista will build up another Blackhawk.
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