Chopper Blade Injury, Queensland
 

Just seen this article - anyone know anything more??
Man hit by chopper prop


"Man hit by chopper prop

04oct05

A 58-year-old man is in a critical condition on Queensland's Sunshine Coast after being hit by a helicopter propeller, an ambulance spokesman said.

The spokesman said the man received severe head injuries in the accident at a helicopter training school at the Sunshine Coast Airport at Maroochydore at 9.30am (AEST) today.
The man was taken by a nearby Energex Community Rescue helicopter to the Royal Brisbane Hospital. "

LowNr

:ooh:

From the Adelaide Advertiser:

Pilot walks into chopper blade

04oct05

A 58-year-old Queensland helicopter instructor is in a serious condition after walking into a slowly revolving rotor blade.

The pilot – with more than 30 years experience – works at Becker Helicopters which is based at the Sunshine Coast Airport at Maroochydore.
He had just completed a training flight in the two-seat Hughes 300 chopper when the accident happened at 9.20am (AEST) today.

Police said he had shutdown the chopper, removed his helmet and was walking away when he was hit on the head by the slow moving main blades.

The pilot received a compound fracture to the skull and was rushed by the Energex Community Rescue Helicopter to the Royal Brisbane Hospital in a serious condition.

Becker Helicopters chief executive Jan Becker said the man was from the Sunshine Coast and had worked at the company for three years.

"It's just one of those things," she said.

Mrs Becker said staff and trainees were receiving counselling.

Energex pilot John Hodges said the blades were moving between 20 and 30 revolutions a minute when the accident occurred.

"He was lucky the blades were moving relatively slow," he said.

"Had they been going at full speed it would have been all over for him."

DF.

Do we have a name for the pilot?

PA

HAA wishes a speedy recovery
 

On behalf of the HAA, and fellow helicopter industry members we all wish the pilot a speedy recovery.

Our thoughts are with the operator, families and other people who were involved.

A special thankyou to John Hodges for his excellent media interview where he explained the "Golden Hour", a feature of HEMS planning.

Names will be released later today.

Rob Rich
President
HAA

I really don’t understand why it is so fashionable to leave the controls while the blades are still turning. In my experience remaining at the controls until the blades have stopped ensures no possibility of aircraft damage due to blade sailing and no risk of injury – rather a win - win situation. Its not “just one of those things” as was quoted above in another post, but an issue of flight discipline and airmanship.

Oh My! Such a Safety Climate!
 

:{

May this be a lesson to everyone ! Those 269 blades can flap like crazy in gusts at low RPM - I've seen it ! Let's hope he gets well soon - you can't keep a good pilot down !

TFS

g black,

good call. Can't undertstand what the hurry is to leave an aircraft while the control surfaces are still generating bernoulies. The 5 mins or so it may or may not save you can be well eroded by the cost of blades contacting the airframe (sailing) or contacting your scon.

Seriously what is the advantage?

:eek:

"it's just one of those things" is the quote allegedly attributed to Jan Becker.

Coming from the owner of a training organisation that is simply a shocking thing to say. I will refrain from further comment.

My best wishes to the pilot concerned for a speedy recovery.

Driptray - Fair comment and have deleted it.

Cheers Ned,
Likewise

Driptray

Pardon my ignorance, but if you are sitting in the aircraft and your blade starts to sail, what can you do about it? Your reaction time plus the rotor brake actuation time will be too slow I think.

Sans rotorbrake, there's not a lot you can do about it hitting the airframe. If it's fitted, the rotorbrake reduces the time available for a sailing blade to contact the boom or other parts.

But given the choice of a potential knock on the head, and staying strapped in for a few more minutes, I'll take the latter.

Yes Nr, I quite agree regarding not getting hit on the head. I always wait until things stop spinning before getting out. I was therefore surprised to see at Helitech last week a very well known and vastly experienced examiner land on the airside of the wire fence and jump out of the aircraft into the crew bus while the blades were still rotating quite fast. A bit of "do as I say not as I do" methinks.

However, I was sitting in a R22 a couple of weeks ago and running down in a gusty wind. The engine was off and the blades maybe doing 1 or 2 revs per second. I was watching the forward blade dipping sharply as it came round and wondering if I should or indeed could do anything about it. The collective was full down of course so I couldn't have any less pitch, so I pulled harder than normal on the brake and hoped for the best. Just made me wonder about it though.

thankyou to those wishing pilot well
 

The family of the pilot injured wishes to thank those who have expressed kind thoughts to him and to thank the Energex crew and Jan and Mike for their quick actions and expertise in getting the best possible care to him.He is currently doing as well as can be expected given the extent of his injuries but has along road to recovery ahead.
Brendon

helmet
 

firstly: here's hoping the pliot recovers OK :ok:

if you go to the trouble of wearing a helmet in the Queensland heat (I realise a lot of training establishments don't) then whilst still under the rotor disk raise your arms & lift the helmet off your scone...yet higher still....then walk out from under a slow spinning disc.....:sad:

perhaps a momentary lapse of complacency of an otherwise safe pilot...or a bad habit that's finally caught up with him :uhoh:

personally I don't enjoy being around near the disc unless I'm in the cockpit, (must be those strike videos haunting me), certainly I limit movements beneath the disc, particularly at low R/RPM - maybe I'm just paranoid

couldn't think of a worse thing to happen though :(

What can you do when the blades start sailing? Quite a bit actually. You fly the blades to keep the disc horizontal – the cyclic position is not the issue, it is the plane of the disc that is maintained using the cyclic. I don’t know anything about the Robo, but this technique is used in the Huey and Kiowa. As for rotor brakes, in my experience (limited Blackhawk, quite a bit of Squirrel) the brake is very effective and provided you apply early (within limits), are within engine shutdown wind limits – I have never come close to a problem.

Who ever you are - I wish you a speedy recovery.
Good luck mate,
hf

For those who have not seen the press the pilot was Lester Chambers of Noosa.Students and colleages and freinds seeking info on Lester please refrain from contacting the ICU at Royal Brisbane as they have had a large number of queries regarding him.You are welcome to PM myself (his son) or contact Beckers.
Thanks to all for many offers of support and concern for Lester.
Will post further as appropriate (His condition has not changed)
Brendon

Sad for sure specially when one has been around for a while. I have had one on my aircraft and seen another one. Both subjects had many years around Helicopters. Best causation factor seems to be that old word Complacency.