R44 Down on Melbourne Beach
 

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E2862,00.html

The R44 looked undamaged on the news last night and all were reported as uninjured..

The pilot may have been concerned because his Chopper had turned orange perhaps ?:E

Redeye

"Her" chopper

Come on John......Whats the go? A little light on experience with the new addition to the stable, an over reaction or something of more concern and therefore of interest to all of us parking our deriere's in Frank's machines.

G'day All,
From what I hear, the MR blades may need "ironing" after the little incident. I reckon she recovered very well from a very nasty situation.
Cheers,
MPT:{

The facts of this incident are:

R44 lost tail rotor effectiveness whilst on a photography/filming flight. Control was regained and a precautionary landing under power made on St Kilda beach to assess any damage that may have occured. All crew were unhurt. Helicopter is still being assessed. I was PIC on flight.

Jaffa,

Many thanks for that. Takes a bit of a pilot to take on the yahoos here with a posting like that. Good for you.

But most of all good on ya for getting it on the ground in one piece, above the high tide mark after a problem. Many haven't.

Old Franks safety notice SN-34 is open as I type, and I know you have read it a hundred times but just in case anyone else reads this, please would they read the notice again. Photography is a health risk.

Once again, well done for the precautionary.

As the old saying goes
 

Women and machinery

jaffa,

did you fly it off the beach ?????????

Makes sense
 

http://www.helicopteros.com.br/sn34box.htm

Imabell.

It was removed from the beach with a crane and i don't think it has flown again yet.

Badbreath, Do you know the pilot concerned? The "women and machinery "type of comment really just isnt very funny, most of the female pilots I know are excellent.

MOST...
 

so not all of them then..

Yeah most not all, some are good, others average the same as the blokes I've worked with in the industry.
You are employed as a professional pilot I assume Badbreath!

Cos if you are working in the industry you will have noticed more and more Female pilots coming through (still in the minority though). They are the new ones getting jobs cos they know their stuff and can handle the machinery to the standard expected.

if this machine suffered a bit of "lte" why did it need to be lifted off the beach and not flown back to base??? what damage can "lte" do???
:confused: :confused:

Presumably Frank or someone from RHC must be heading for Australia ?

In 10 years of production and 2500+ units, this is the first known case of LTE causing an R44 to have a problem - they'll want to see the evidence themselves.

As I understand it, this was a flight with a running video camera onboard filming some banner towing. So that tape might be quite useful.

Aha. Are we confusing our terminlogies again, I wonder? :E LTE vs LTA.

This thread should provide a useful reminder for Jaffa Driva. :ok:

Before you all get carried away, all that I can report ATM is that the machine made a precautionary landing following a LTE which involved a loss of height of about 1600 - 1700 feet. The pilot made the right decision to land, and a check was made of the aircraft by a LAME, who was unsure of tolerances on the blade surfaces.

Following a road recovery (what would you have done, Graeme?) the helicopter has been given a clean bill of health, and was only on the ground for a day and a half, awaiting confirmation from Robinson Helicopters. It was flown Tuesday, the incident was on Sunday. The ripples on the blades are normal, and well within the manufacturer's tolerances: we would rather have checked and been safe, than taken a chance and been sorry.

There are quite a few pilots around who have encountered LTE, and all have told me that it is sudden and viscious: those who have recovered owe a lot to luck and skill, regardless of their experience level :ok:

LTE
 

Absolutely brilliant decision making jaffa driver - LTE at low altitude takes some calm rational inputs - well done! Badbreath, take a look at FAA statistics regarding gender fatalities "Sir".

Well done.
 

There are many reasons for LTE (and lets be honest, we are still learning lessons from LTE incidents) but thats not the crux of my post.

WELL DONE to the pilot involved. The precautionary landing was 110% the correct decision....when in doubt, there is no doubt etc etc

Too many pilots in an attempt to save face, continue on, or fly home....often in an attempt disguise the incident. Sometimes endangering dozens of innocent people in the process.

Congrats to this pilot for a sensible and mature approach esp given the uncertain and dramatic nature of the LTE incident.

Whirlyhen
 

Typical female remark ,your all sisters living in differant houses..