BK (?) down in NSW bushfires
 

Just heard that someone came to grief on the fires in NSW. Haven't got any details, but it sounds like a BK or similar. Believe no-one hurt. Anyone else got any other info as to who, where, etc.

MPT,

A jetranger was bent substantially in the Blue Mountains a couple of weeks ago but nothing heard today or yesterday. Pilot not hurt.

SYD

Thanks Syd_Rapac,

My source said that it was a bigger machine than a Jetranger or Squirrel and that he didn't recognise the description as a local NSW machine. The details (very sketchy) that I received didn't sound like a 205/212/412, so the only other twin that I could think of in any numbers was a BK. Might have to dig deeper?

MPT

Heard it was John Eacott's (spelling) BK, something about it turning out the front of a building or hanger and comming to grief after joining the tail rotor with a tree. I believe it ended upright, but substantial damage. Heard this from credible source, but .........

I believe John to be a rather experienced bloke so would be surprised if he was driving at the time.

Hope all is OK. :(

Strange comment rotorque. Why so hard to believe?

It was John in the Mt Hotham BK 117. This is a fact because I heard it! I was doing some night training that night and I told him the duty runway. Looks like he turned the tail into trees, no, actually he did!

Too cloudy,

A little diplomatic manouvering if you will.
:cool:

Sorry to hear the news.
John Eacott is a valued contributor to this forum.
Pleased to hear he wasn't badly hurt or worse.
Best wishes John.

I know John and know that he is a good, safe pilot, but alas like everyone he can make a mistake as well. Like the ole saying goes:

**** Happens.

Back in Bankstown after a week on the fires. Yes, 'twas I, main problem still is a sore backside from kicking myself.

However, a lesson to be learnt, as all the holes lined up to contribute to an avoidable accident.

Driving home, phone call for a reposition Melbourne to Bankstown ASAP, within the bounds of reason.

Error 1: Continued driving home, packed bag and drove back to work, wasting an hour instead of returning to work & picking up o'night kit whilst flying to Sydney.

Error 2: Weather & last light rushing up, helped re fit the interior of the 117, worked up fair sweat, judgement going.

Error 3: Pushed to get north of the divide with deteriorating weather, instead of dropping in home and overnighting.

Errors 4-5: got to Albury, weather fine for continued NVMC, but waited an hour for crewman to drive to Albury. Should have o'nighted, pushed on (following another BK an hour ahead) because the 30 knot tailwind looked tempting. Anyway, the clocks only changed the night before, so my body clock was saying 9pm instead of 10pm. Right? WRONG!!!

Final errors: arrive Bankstown 2325, and phone calls to previous BK indicated no way of getting out of the airfield, since all exits locked up. No worries, key to Hangar 473, I'll park there. High hover taxi, rh landing light blown after take off from Albury, strange square of something with curling edges on the helipad area. Lets have a look with the nose landing lamp, OK, looks unsafe, pedal turn back out to land near the taxiway.

OK, series of unpleasant thuds from the tail area, definitely no yaw control, bl**dy trees 7 metres from the pad. Dump lever, cyclic steer onto the concrete, heavy landing, shut down, order taxi, go to hotel.

Without doubt, a series of poor calls, any of which could have avoided the accident. 36 years and lots of hours don't make any of us immune from the results of bad judgements. Press-on-itis, tiredness and bad airmanship are all killers, and I'm just grateful that we got on the ground in one piece.

Thank you to those who have taken the trouble to call, and I hope that this episode will help someone, one day, to avoid repeating my mistake.

John,
Congratulations on having the guts to make such an honest appraisal and then to put it in writing for the rest of us to see. We've all been guilty of press-on-itis. Most of the time you get away with it, sometimes you don't....

Sorry to hear about the machine but great to hear the causes. Something that can happen and something that all of us can learn from. Well done for having the intestinal fortutide the tell it on the Forum. I hope that someone else can learn from it as I most certainly have.

Good to see that you have the balls to air this one publicly and give us all the opportunity to have a bit of a wake up call. It can happen to anyone at any time, no one is immune and our only defence to this kind of error chain is constant vigilance. If anyone out there is thinking "couldn't have happened to me" then it's time for an attitude adjustment.
Well done John Eacott. :)

Yeah ditto the last 3 posts......

Adding to the above: thanks John, glad you are around to share the lesson.

John,

Just got the computer back completely up-and-running after the move back to the Mudbank, hence a bit slow off the mark in reading what you've been up to. As with the others, many thanks for the story (there's them that have, and there's them that are going to...). Sad to think that the lovely aircraft you showed me in the hangar isn't very well - hope it all comes right soon. Er, you did pick your insurer as carefully as you run the rest of the business, didn't you? I gather all isn't too bright and sunny in the Australian actuarial industry these days...