That's what I meant when I said that it is unclear how long after that steep descent they impacted.
But it does not say like you claim it was "on approach to land":=
It says "not far from the the research station, on a snow covered area reaching to the horizon, the helicopter touched the ground with high forward speed". Helicopters do not apprach or land with high forward speed...

...and I did mention the possibility of whiteout conditions.

cheers for that,
does anyone have the full report to this? if it is out?
Cheers

Hi,

I just read the BFU report of the accident.

I agree with the translation of Flying Bull and Phil77.

I found nothing about an approach to land.

...a right turn with high bank towards the ship they did a tight left turn followed by a high speed descent towards the shelf ice border. short before the shelf ice border there was an sharp and abrupt pull up. At that point the mast moment warning light comes up....

....."the pullup in front of the ice followed by a push-over and a steep descent that had been terminated - here ended the memory of all eye witnesses..."
...there was an merry mood throughout the maneuver...:(

I fly the BO 105 myself and I know that kind of flying - very sad

Hi Morane,

I just gave a short summery.
You can read the report in different ways.
They write subsequently it came close to the station to the accident.
I don´t know, how far the station was away from the ships position.
Still, bending (mastmoment) the bird in flight doesn´t give hints to less risky flight after the first "show offs".
My humble guess is, that after the manovers some low flying followed....
But that´s just a guess with no evidence - just my experience....

Still, RIP and whoever wants to show off, remenber that most accidents are pilot induced.....

Fly safe

Greetings Flying Bull

There is no evidence that the "show-off" flying is connected in any way to the accident - but it does seem to be likely... maybe after some time the survivors will be able to remember.

That whole fun flying discussion in that report got me thinking about the other german BO-105 accident in 2003:
HEMS Pilot flies under a bridge (supposedly less than a meter (!) clearance above and below:eek:) - he made it through, but on the other side he pushed over to fly away when the skids caught a sheet of ice, floating in the waterway, and rolled over. Pilot and nurse survived, but the 37 yr old doc in the back drowned.

Obviously there is NO CONNECTION to the accident discussed here - just a reminder how show-off flying can end; even though the event described above is not "fun", or "show of" - just plain stupid (btw. the pilot flew for 10 years - also in the military where they do stuff like flying under bridges... but not for fun)

Surely I had my share of "fun-flying" or "showing-off" and most likely will feel tempted to do it again. Sadly should anything happen - maybe well later and totaly unrelated - it will be perceived by others that I was acting careless or reckless.


Just my thoughts and not intended to point fingers.

Stefan not Stephan
 

A bit late, but only now just found this dialog concerning the accident and Stefan.
To whom it may concern; the pilots name was not Stephan but Stefan Winter, in good spirit the morning of the accident around 6pm, the last time I spoke to him and only 2.5 hr before the crash. Really appreciated spending the last 2 weeks of his life in his presence (as participant of the expedition). Shocking what happened and also still curious about what really happened. Took notice of wreck and crashsite. 4800 flight hours (including previous 2 Arctic and 2 Antarctic expeditions) in combination with his relaxed, gentle appearance resulting in "show-off flying" and a crash puzzled me. Good to hear that he belonged to the top 2% (PatMcgroin)
The morning of the crash 80% of the sky was overcast with only a dim horizon and diffuse light. Don't know what that means (as I am not a pilot), can only guess. Station was still not in reach at location where it happened (approach to land not likely).
Lost a good friend and indeed a gentleman of the first order :( there and then. He will be missed.
Greetings,
flybmb