Helicopter safety
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tgfazec7qe...%20ro.xls?dl=0 Please note, at the time, this list was made available privately for fact checking, if there is any conjecture regarding the facts please drop me a line.
It is impossible to statistically compare accident rates because of an extraordinary lack of data.
A few things can be learnt from the list of accident data;
1/ outside of war zones, more media people were killed in aerial filming than all other filming endeavours, combined.
2/ If you are a media professional (or a pilot) and find yourself in an (reportable) emergency situation, there is a 30% chance someone will be killed or seriously injured.
3/ High medium and low hour pilots all make mistakes.
4/ The (obvious) common denominator is the effect of the presence of a film crew on the human performance of the pilot, caused by film crew taking control of flight planning (often mid flight) and pilots overstepping their own safety parameters having succumbed to luvvie fever.
5/ Sudden mechanical failure is very low, but speaking from personal experience, pilots can be lured into keeping the "show on the road" even in the face of a mechanical issue
a), even when taking off for a night flight low level over a capital city despite two tail rotor chip lights on flights earlier in the day. The third chip light went off at 750 feet during an orbit over the city. The following morning the engineer pulled the chip and almost fainted as stuck to it was a topping of large metal bits
b)Another was flying a tracking shot of a large boat of the Dutch coast where fog was clinging off-land. A tricky shot as presenter on bow of the boat had to perform a piece to camera. Visibility seaward was a few hundred meters, but landward was better, completely pilots choice to have a look land then revaluate. Production team were aware of cancellation costs ect, I made it dead easy for the pilot to say no. But he said yes, we barely got the shot and he said that it was the most difficult flying he had ever had to do. F*ck that, it was a TV doc not a rescue.
c)A mate who told a pilot to calm down as they were flying a bit too close to a cliff whilst tracking a car, 60 seconds later they crashed.
d) hundred of other incidents !
My advice to camera crew in similar situation (where there is ground action doing its thing) is to makeup an excuse to stop the shoot, because, if a pilot has done something dodgy his judgement is already compromised by the environment and a revision of flight safety whilst still in the same environment may not achieve the desired outcome.
A good rule of thumb is to be aware of the potential pressures on small operators where flight planning and management is not overseen by others.
Another interesting fact, during the period, there were nil bystander fatalities or serious injuries caused by the accidents. I reckon drones have caused more injuries to bystanders than helicopters ever did...
Thankfully the death rate of media crew and their pilots has since lowered, perhaps due to greater awareness and also the increasing use of drones for low and slow filming. It does beg the question that in a decade or so there may be a shortage of pilots with aerial filming experience, on the other hand, due to the massive increase in aerial filming using drones, there will be more media folk and pilots who are aware of the choreography associated with aerial photography.
mjb
Last edited by mickjoebill; 16th Jan 2021 at 07:49.
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How is this to do a "Risk Assessment" on, the idea behind it I believe was to rescue a disabled Minesweeper out of a Minefield without having to send another vessel in to tow it out. I am not a Helicopter Pilot but I would guess that getting the vessel moving would be the major problem, once that period of tension was over it would be a bit less of a problem to keep the vessel moving, still.😰
Helos are regularly used to tow stuff, the first a twenty ton sled on ice, second towing a LPD. tramontana, your snap comes from the following trial.
https://www.alamy.com/nov-11-1957-sh...e69348962.html
https://www.alamy.com/nov-11-1957-sh...e69348962.html
Last edited by megan; 17th Jan 2021 at 03:08.
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The large Red V denotes Gavington was based then as part of HMS Vernon Squadron which I remember well and at the time we had more Ton Class Minesweepers than you could shake a stick at if things went horribly wrong, the picture showing the Chinook is even more startling.
