Cairns Helicopter Crash
 

Anybody know what happend?



Survivor tells of chopper 'death spiral'

A passenger on a helicopter that crashed near Cairns today says it went into a "death spiral" before it hit the ground.
The helicopter, which was on a charter flight, crashed at the site of a resort and residential development at False Cape shortly before 10.40am (AEST).
The pilot and two passengers were today being treated in Cairns Base Hospital, but a fourth man walked away without injury.
One of the passengers, identified only as Steve, told The Cairns Post online he was surprised to still be alive.
"Somehow I'm alive," he said.
"There was some turbulence and we got into a death spiral on the way down.
"We hit trees and I thought that was it."
A 45-year-old man has been taken to Cairns Base Hospital suffering from back and abdominal pain, as has the 40-year-old pilot, who has two broken ankles.
Another 40-year-old passenger is suffering from general abrasions, an Emergency Services Queensland spokeswoman said.
The crash occurred in rough terrain near the controversial Reef Cove Resort development, which local environmentalists want stopped.
A spokeswoman said the flight had not been authorised by the developers.
An investigation is under way.
AAP

Pic and video:

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/200...ocal-news.html

http://www.cairns.com.au/images/uplo...HELICOPTER.jpg


http://tools.cairns.com.au/images/ga...6/18/55815.jpg


http://tools.cairns.com.au/images/ga...6/18/55791.jpg


http://tools.cairns.com.au/images/ga...6/18/55771.jpg

couldn't pick up a rego there, don't know who owned it? anyone.

very lucky to get out those guys, looked like a fair way down.

It looks like VH-RYW. Not certain though. Owned by an ex-farmer now commercial pilot and leased to Heli-charters here in Cairns. At the time being used to inspect a partially completed resort development which has produced huge amount of protest and controversy.

Haven't much more to add than what's already posted. But the passenger mentioned turbulence on the local news.

I fly past that spot a lot and in strong south easter (which we have been having for a week or so) it is treacherous. It's in the lee of the hills of the cape with rolling wave turbulence that reaches out well past the cape. I always get clearance to track wide of the cape because of it.

Purely speculation but maybe they got into some overpowering downdraught or wave turbulance etc etc.

For the superstitious: The local aboriginal people are now saying the resort development and the cape are cursed. Has been a death in a excavator driver (big rock rolled on him.) A number of bad equipment accidents and bad weather causing lots of the retaining walls etc to wash away.

Maybe it wasn't turbulence at all:ooh:

Cairns Helicopter Crash
 

Operator was Heli Charters - formerly Downunder Helicopters.
For those that know the crew there, the pilot was Steve P. Not the owner, Steve S.
I have no idea what went wrong but I suspect (pure guesswork) turbulence may have played a part as suggested by the pax. The crash site is at the foot of a small range of hills/mountains. Does any one know what the weather was like there today. Glad to hear there are no fatalities be it by good luck or good flying.:D:D Hope you're up and about again soon Steve.

Weather as per forecast here was 15/20 knots south easterly.

I wasn't flying or outside so I can't say if it really was - but if so it could have been pretty lumpy over the other side of the inlet.

Survivors 'lucky' in Qld chopper crash

June 18, 2008 - 7:33PM

One of four survivors of a helicopter crash near Cairns on Wednesday thought he was going to die.

The Robinson R44 helicopter, chartered by environmentalists photographing a controversial resort development at False Cape, crashed shortly before 10.40am (AEST).

Of the four on board, the pilot was the most severely hurt, suffering two broken ankles. He had to be cut free from the wreckage.

Passenger Steve Nowakowski told reporters he was surprised to be alive.

He said the pilot warned of turbulence before the helicopter started a fast downward spiral.

"We went into a death roll and we just spiralled, near vertically, just straight down," Mr Nowakowski said.

"As soon as we hit the trees I thought it was all over, I thought that was it."

Passenger Mark Buttrose said it was calm on board as the helicopter descended.

"Everyone was pretty silent as it went down because we were concentrating on the pilot doing a good job and getting us down," he told Ten News.

The helicopter crashed through the trees and hit the ground.

All on board except the pilot escaped through an open door.

Mr Nowakowski said the whirring of the rotors was ominous.

"We hit the ground and then I realised I was alive, and I was waiting for the explosion," he said.

The Save False Cape group spokesman said his campaign against the resort development was now over.

"I've been to court, I've lost thousands of US dollars, I nearly lost my life," he said.

Witness Terry Spackman said it was hard to believe anyone could emerge from the crumpled wreckage.

Investigations into the cause of the crash have begun.

© 2008 AAP

interesting i wonder if the pop out floats popped in the impact or the trigger got pulled in an attempt to "yank the handle"...:confused:

come on you bananas, this is an LTE accident all the way.

FFS

thats right, lte, lack of tertiary education.:E

Filming Hovering spining crashing
 

http://cairnspost.newspaperdirect.co...er/viewer.aspx

Here is a dramatic picture taken minutes after the event.
(Free one day trial to read all the story)

One still photographer, one cameraman on board as well as another (not small) adult passenger and pilot, add in floats video and camera kit.

Left hand front and rear doors can't be seen in any of the pictures so perhaps they were shooting on the pilots blind side.

Whilst we dont know what caused this accident others have found that a photo mission in gusty conditions with 4 on board can leave a R44 near the limit of operation or recovery.

Passenger is quoted saying "We were hovering getting really good pictures"
If true enough said.

The last thing on the photogrpahers mind is the direction of wind, he just wants the subject to appear in his field of view. indeed Steven Nowakowski told "CairnsBlog" that they gathered a great number of images and footage.
"My camera was totally destroyed, but I managed to rescue the memory card," Steven said.
Maybe he was in shock when he said that.

I wish them luck with their environmental campaign.

A side point, is it a good idea anyway to pop the foats in such conditions to "cushion" impact?



Mickjoebill

The pop-out floats inflate above and outside the skids, so on a vertical fall you'd still hit straight on the skids. A sideways impact would be much the same as there's no sideways support for the floats and they'd just push out of the way. You'd still end up with main contact on the skids in an impact of any magnitude.

Wee Man
If the wind was as forecast you'd be right. I don't know if it was. Wouldn't be the first time they got it wrong:bored:

I flew past the same spot on Saturday with forecasted 20 to 25 knots but I had 34 knots on the tail. Its hard to describe but that spot is behind the hills that form the downwind side/end of a wide valley that funnels the prevailling winds. There's a fair bit of a venturi effect down the valley so the forecasted area winds are often stronger in the valley.

As I said no evidence to say the winds were or were not as forecasted. Just speculating with some local knowledge.

the only reason i go via the leads is for pax comfort, has to be 25kts plus for that. it is bumpy mainly in two spots on the cape and next to the aerials about 2 minutes of flying. The Lee side of hills in prevailing winds have a few bumps and can have odd wind direction, same on all hills with valleys.

LTE;

Lack of Technical Education,

Lack of Training for the Environment,

or simply

Lackadasial Transient Enzyme.

If one can image a "death spiral" would the reduction of the weight of one passenger make a difference in regaining control?


Would the reduction of weight of one passenger make any difference in loss of control due to LTE? (hypothetical question not necesarily related to this incident)



Mickjoebill

LTE doesn't exist. It's an ar**-covering invention. The simple correct term is loss of control by a pilot failing to recognise the warning signs.

thank you jimball,

now if only we could convert the masses, but no, there will soon be plenty of "lack of technical education" experts, (thanks tet), to shoot the messenger.:rolleyes:

LTE another in line with Jimball's statement

Lousy Turnout of an Excuse.

What is it called when your left pedal is on the bubble and you are still yawing right? with low airspeed, high gross weight and high density altitude? LTE
Keep them moving!