Wreckage - best wishes for a full recovery
 

Just read your update on John from Mater
 

Thanks to Fletch for keeping us all posted.

John is indeed a very nice chap and highly respected by all that know him.

It is very difficult for a patient and family to begin adjusting to the situation until it stabilises.

Hopefully no more injuries to be discovered and the very best of luck to John with his operation and the results achieved.

His previous attention to strength and fitness will pay dividends now I would imagine.

My thoughts are with J and family.

Regards,

It gets worse

Bladecrack,
I think you should note that Helimutt is half of the driving force behind helicoptersafety.org and would not in my opinion make comments in a manner which you accused him of, he is still a Geordie though:}. He has since expained this himself anyway.
The post incident discussion element needs to be promoted on this forum in my opinion as some of us aren't in an easy position to attend the safety evenings at the moment, therefore I welcome further comments, constructive of course, as this is certainly an event I would like to learn more about.
H

Update
 

Johns surgery has been postponed until tomorrow.
A specialist will be carrying out a new micro surgery on him,
which will mean a much quicker recovery process.

Thoughts and prayers are with J and his family.

specialist coming in from uk....besta luck mate.

I'd just like to add my best wishes to John and his family. As another 109 pilot I know how little time he had to make the decisions he did.

Well done and get well soon,

Regards,

Lunar

HeliBaron, Shytorque.

The Italian authorities issued AD 2000-371 which I believe covers the rotating scissors issue. Mandatory for UK registered aircraft. No reason for the CAA to issue an AD.

Manufacturers mandatory bulletins are only mandatory if backed by an AD!!!!!!!!!
It is the operators choice as to what action they take in respect of them.
If they choose to ignore them they might have to explain their decision in court at a later date.

But it would be difficult to ignore the word MANDATORY in bright red, inch high, letters on the BTs sent by the manufacturer to owners and operators.

Never mind in court, try explaining why something marked thus wasn't done to the aircraft insurance company. I think the words NULL, and VOID, might feature in any conversation.

Different topic to whether something is a cover-up, or not, which was my point. Also, I presume, totally irrelevant to the subject here, just in case journos mis-read any intonation.

Update
 

I dont think this will apply to this case.

Anyway, John had a very successful back operation today and is on the road to recovering!

Thank God.

thanks de beere for updates....great news....we were all worried.

That's the only thing that is important! :ok:

New pics uploaded of the aircraft removal from the crash site.. They arn't my photos..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/muineac...th/2350982784/

before all of the armchair critics kick off, I see from the photos the tail rotor blades are still intact so wondered if this was probably because they had stopped spinning before impact?? I would have expected them to have broken off fairly sharply if they'd been spinning. Just wondering that's all.

First of all, thank god J is making a full and speedy recovery. It has been no doubt a terrifying experience for him, his family and his colleagues and I hope he's able to get back in the air soon.

Had a look through the other photos of the recovery also Helimut, and I agree, the tail rotor must have not been rotating during the impact and roll-over. I also noticed that tail rotor drive shaft appears to be broken after the first visible bearing where the cowling had been opened. This can be seen in three photos but it looks like there is some thing extra around the shaft after the first bearing? Is it possible for a bearing to have come out of it's mount?

TI

EricFerret, Shytorque

AD2000-371 referred to BT109EP-12, inspection of scissor links. I have not seen BT109EP-86 but you say that it deals with marking of the link to aid correct installation.

As far as I am aware (and I stand to be corrected) the link can still be installed the wrong way round - is Mr. Murphy still alive and well?? It was this design fault that was never addressed following the previous accidents, the UK CAA seemed to ignore it.

I hope that I am wrong concerning the cause and I wish the pilot a speedy recovery.

The BT's can be found here:

http://customersupport.agusta.com/technical_advice.php

Anyone operating the type but not receiving this information would be rightly concerned; we certainly do receive it in good time.

After looking at the photos of the wreck, it seems to me, that the airframe is not severely bent, especially in the cockpit area. Are the seats of a 109 not as crashworthy as the seats of a 900/902 or EC 135?
The pilot did obviously a very good job, but at last the hard landing wasnt good for his spine, maybe better seats may have prevented these injuries?

skadi

ShyTorque

Thanks for the link, not operating the A109E presently but still interested.

The BT may help but the link can still be installed the wrong way round - still a design fault that could cause serious problems and a design fault that the Aviation Authorities have long been aware of.:ugh:

Thanks for the photos. It seems that just about everything is bent except for the Tail rotor blades. So they were more than likely not turning at impact. These are the Orginal "C" model Agusta tail rotor blades. Seeing the driveshaft cowling open the inspectors were obviously looking for the cause of no rototational blade damage.
I pray the pilot has a speedy recovery from this and a discovery of what occured is found. While most accidents are of some type of Pilot Error this seems to be a obvious mechanical part failure.

Godspeed.

Brent

Update
 

Saw J at mid day today and he asked me to tell you that he was out of bed walking with his brother. As you can imagine, this is a huge leap in his recovery and I am truly amazed at the speed in which he is on his feet, be it a few steps.
He is very lucky to have such massive support of his friends and family and I wish him a speedy recovery.
Ketchup