Chopper crash in NO (Katrina Rescue)
 

Just saw on CNN a small chopper that crashed onto a roof.

CNN Reports "light injuries" but the bird looks broken up?

Rescue chopper did a tad damage flipping boats ...

Anybody got more info ?

Cheers Gunss

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisi...list=louisiana

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3820492

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/p...plate=dateline

http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa...list=hurricane

All report;

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A civilian helicopter crashed at a minor league baseball field in suburban New Orleans on Wednesday, injuring three people on board, a Louisiana National Guard official said.

The helicopter crashed at Zephyr Field, which is used by the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. It was not clear how serious the injuries were or what caused the crash, said Lt. Col. Pete Schneider.

Federal Aviation Administration officials didn't immediately have information on the crash.


edited to add; different incident.

http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull1.asp?id=12922


The pilot, crew, and two civilians survived the crash of a rescue helicopter in New Orleans Sunday evening. It is not immediately known what caused the helicopter to go down.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ar...n.com+%2F+News

Rescue helicopter crashes in New Orleans -TV
September 4, 2005

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A rescue helicopter crashed in New Orleans on Sunday, U.S. television networks reported.

The two crew members from the Coast Guard Super Puma helicopter were safe, MSNBC said.

Live television footage from the scene showed the red helicopter lying on the ground near a roadway, with smoke drifting from its cockpit. The ground around the wreck was blackened and churned up by the aircraft's rotor blades.

There was no immediate information on what had caused the crash.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../helicopter_dc

Civilian helicopter crashes in New Orleans Sun Sep 4, 8:53 PM ET

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - A civilian helicopter that was not involved in rescue operations crashed in New Orleans on Sunday and the two people on board were slightly injured, a state official said.

The helicopter crashed in the area of the Danziger Bridge, said Mark Smith, spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

"The helicopter came down hard and rolled over on its side and broke its blades off and broke its tail off," Smith told reporters in Baton Rouge.

"There were two civilians on the helicopter. Both sustained cuts and scrapes," he said.

It was not known why the helicopter was in the area, Smith said.

The U.S. military and Coast Guard have conducted hundreds of helicopter flights in the New Orleans area in recent days searching for Hurricane Katrina survivors and have rescued thousands of storm victims.

Early media reports said the crashed aircraft was a Coast Guard helicopter.

Live television footage from the scene showed the red helicopter lying on the ground near a roadway, with smoke drifting from its cockpit. The ground around the wreck was blackened and churned up by the aircraft's rotor blades.

Smith said he did not know if shots had been fired at the helicopter. Gunfire has been reported on numerous occasion in the New Orleans area in recent days.

"It could have been mechanical failure," he said.

another edit after finding this pic;

http://home.socal.rr.com/picsgifs/images/crash.jpg
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477400/posts
and this one;

http://a1022.g.akamai.net/f/1022/816...9/19316316.jpg
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/wea...ility&index=43

One word to describe that one..................Exspensive.

Strike One! Yer out!

TX Silsoesid !

It is / was not this one - so it seams there was 2 accidents ?
This is / was a Puma (SA 330 of some sorts).

The other was a Robbie or something like that ( 2 people and very small) - maybe as large as a Hughes 500.

I saw the footage it lied on top of a house carved in two. It was also in the badly affected area as the house was surrounded by water and a rescue boat was blown over by the rescue chopper that picked the pax / pilot(s) up.

CHeers and tx.

When it comes to this type of work, Robbies be should at home in bed..........

Hope their insurance comes up with the goods.

Assume its a 332... Anyone know if the 225 has received its FAA certification yet?

No ....it WAS an SA 330(J) probably resting between or ready to go on a VERTREP mission for the US Navy or suchlike ???

Sad sad sad! :eek:

The Puma in the photos was not on contract with Coast Guard or any other Federal Agency from what i was told.

Its owned and operated by Billings Flying Service from Billings, Montana.

Cheers.

Ned is correct, the Puma belonged to Billings Flying Service and was under contract to a private firm. And it didn't crash so much as roll over. It was sitting on the soft, wet ground at idle. It some how became unsettled and rolled over destroying itself (one wheel began to sink into the mud?). That is the story I heard from one of the guys I was flying with in New Orleans who was contracted to the same firm as the Puma. A second person who was nearby at the time confirmed that the aircraft was on the ground when it rolled over and that it did not crash. But nobody I talked to had an explanation for why it happened.

I landed next to it a few days after it happened and the helicopter had managed to spead itself out over a great distance pretty well. It even left a section of rotor blade embedded in a nearby telephone pole. It was quite a strange feeling standing next to it just lying there on the ground. And it will probably be lying there for quite some time.

Feedback I got from one of my editors who spoke to the crews was that the pilot had frictioned down the collective and exited the helo.

Then as it sank slowly into the mud the collection friction vibrated loose and the resulting dynamic rollover is what you see in the photos.

Cheers.

The light helicopter lost was a 206B, not a Robbie. The incident report stated three onboard taking photos. Shots fired. Aircraft spun and crashed on a roof. All got out OK. The incident has been filed under "combat damage."

The Sultan

Are there a lot of 330's/332's in the states and if so who operates them, losing a 330 like that is an expensive one and embarrising if the report of locking down the collective and getting out is true, I can never fathom out why anyone would want to leave something with so much energy turning and burning by itself especially something of this size.

NST

Yup PUMA's will fall over given half a chance ....

But one has to ask why the pilot had to get out at all ... he should have had a crewman or 2nd Pilot working with him if operating a machine that size.

And before anybody asks ...Yes the 330J PUMA can be operated by a single pilot only providing the U/C is left extended....
Not wise but is legal IAW the flight manual!!!

:confused: :{ :uhoh:

Another news story about the Puma... Billings Gazette Also has a pic of the ship in better condition.

(Edit) Another story, same source.

I had also heard that the ship was unattended when it rolled over, the crew was in an adjacement parking lot talking with their customers. Its a good theing that they were not standing any closer otherwise someone could have been seriously injured.

I've never seen a machine that suffered static roll over and ended up with a broken tail like that one?!?! Tail rotor blades are bent as well and they are far from the ground!!! Did anyone talked to the pilot or someone who doesn't want to cover up what really happened or is the rollover story just hearsay???

Would be surprised if the company operated that machine with only one pilot...

Puma's are very prone to roll over. High center of gravity.... but doubt that it was the case in this one...

Evergreen has them as well for whoever wanted to know.

:rolleyes: :\

Yes it was definately dynamic rollover and yes pilot did leave the cockpit and yes it was being flown single pilot. My editor in the US spoke to the pilot on the phone, so its not heresay.

Ned

Thanks for the info Ned.

Still curious how the tail ended up looking like that...

Galapagos

Will see if Dustin can find out that piece of info for you and get back to you.

Cheers.