Tail number
 

Does anybody know the tail number of the helicopter involved in crash?

My condolences to the families and friends left behind.
It seems the Gulf News showing on the web today seems to have established probable cause, least there staff reporter has.
RIP.
outhouse

The tail number was A6-ALV.

For those of you who didn't know Luis, he was a fine representative for Venezuela - a quiet gentleman who loved his family and was good company hopping round the rigs.

phil

Tail No. .......

I think (?) I was told it was A6-ALV ... but in the shock of everything can't be absolutely sure ... thus stand to be corrected.

Condolences to ALL of the families affected by this tragedy .....

:(:(

May their souls rest in perfect peace-AMEN.
What a way to go

May Their Souls Rest In Peace And The Good Lord Console And Give The Ir Families The Fortitude To Bear The Lost 'amen

Any idea on what happened? Can't believe CB would fly into a crane on the Maersk Reliance night or day on Rashid A, been around the traps too long. Was he infact flying A6-ALV ?? Pilot incapacitation/hydraulics failure, tail rotor failure, dick in a crane? Have landed on Rashid A hundreds if not a thousand times night & day. Had a turbine blade fly off myself one day on lift off from Rashid A in a 212. Really interested to find out more but very sad that a good friend and very capable pilot and GM has gone. SAD SAD DAYS:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

I agreee, monkou - Luis was extremely capable as well, and it does seem extremely unlikely unless they were trying to cope with a situation. However, that is pure guesswork on my part and will shut up now.

They wouldn't have been on Rashid A itself, though, as it's not cleared for night landings, if I remember right.

Phil

Did the accident aircraft have a CVR or FDR?

According to reports, there were quite a few passengers on board. Are night crew changes a regular occurence in the Gulf?

Night transport offshore Dubai has been a regular event for at least 20 plus years. I flew 500 hours at night in 212s offshore Dubai over a 5 year period. Some nights were easy with a moon & some were a bit like your first solo moon landing but you either sank or swam. Not hard if you followed procedures, used your head and if you had to stick your head out the window to get a real view (huey window curves right & left side so distorts view) you did it. You could also benefit from saying you F'd it up and went round. Some silly ar's would try it downwind and get into power settling and scare the living daylights out of themselves - obviously forgetting to do the basics of what you'd do in daylight like check the windsock!! From what I hear it was possibly crew fatigue after a long annual leave and straight back into a check ride at night on a moonless night in space. It was a take off event I understand and sounds like the back end hit one of the legs. It was a tight deck as I understand it. A real recipe for disaster but no one knows for sure what really happened - we can only guess. Sounds like the water cannons blew burning debri off the deck into the sea.

TRE52
 

Let us not speculate in print. The families already in despair after a thoughtless Gulf News article Friday.

Condolences to the families, AGS staff members, and all others who knew and flew with Chris and Luis over the years.

TRE52

I would like to add my condolences. Chris and Luis will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with their families at this time and with the families of the passengers who also lost their lives in this tragedy.

On behalf of those of us at Aerogulf, please know that your good wishes and condolences during this incredibly difficult time are greatly appreciated. Those who are most devastated by this incredible loss, the families of Chris and Luis, have been made aware of your postings here on PPRuNe and are most grateful. During this worst experience of their lives, they have been truly amazed that their husbands/fathers have touched the lives of so many people literally all around the world as expressed by the hundreds and hundreds of condolences sent to them via phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and personal visits. We have been inundated with the same deluge of incoming messages at Aerogulf relaying the sadness felt by so many people.

We would also like to say thank you to the Aerogulf family who have come together so tightly to help each other out during this incredibly difficult time. This type of tragedy could tear some companies apart, but for us it has brought us all even closer together. They are a group of true professionals at every level who stand on top of a record of over 30 years of operations without a fatal accident until the night of 3 September 2008.

We cannot say much about the accident at this time as the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is investigating. The GCAA have brought in the U.S. NTSB who have sent over a designated representative with experience in accident investigations and in-depth expertise with Bell helicopters. Nobody knows with certainty the specifics of what happened to cause the crash, but we feel quite certain that we know the contributing factors to the most likely ‘probable cause.’ However, there are still a number of ‘possibilities’ that need to be ruled out. Speculating on our part, or any body else’s, will not be helpful at this time. I can say that all of us who have known Chris and Luis recognize that they are true professionals with extraordinary piloting skills, and we know that based on that knowledge of their abilities the saying that ‘there but for the grace of God go I…’ truly applies in this case. If the scenario that unfolded could have resulted in this tragedy with pilots of their experience and skill level in the cockpit, then it certainly could have happened to ANY of us. And all of us here are completely confident that the outstanding engineers in the maintenance department have not made any mistakes. This accident is like none I have seen or heard of before, and the only good thing that will come of it is the awareness that it will bring to others that may save lives in the future.

Again, all of us at Aerogulf thank you for all of your condolences and concerns. Please keep the families of Chris, Luis and the others lost in your thoughts and prayers…

Only found out last night,
what sad loss, my thoughts and condolences go to the familes of Chris and Luis, and to the passangers of that flight, and to all the Aerogulf staff in Dubai.
During my time with Aerogulf, I flew with both Chris & Luis they will be sadly missed.
Rest In Peace guys

MIA08WA181

On September 3, 2008, at 0023 universal time, a Bell 212, A6-AVL registered to and operated by Aerogulf Services Company LLC, collided with a crane during takeoff from an oil rig in the Persian Gulf. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The helicopter received substantial damage. The airline transport rated pilot-in-command, copilot, and five passengers were killed. The flight was departing from the Resilient Maersk oil rig en-route to another oil rig in the Rashid oil field.

Witnesses stated the helicopter arrived from Dubai, landed towards the front of the helipad, and cargo was off loaded. The helicopter was then observed to lift off the helipad to a hover, turn left 180 degrees, moved rearward, and collide with the crane. The helicopter fell to the deck of the helipad and caught fire.

Don't know the guys, but this is a horrific accident. Condolences from another off-shore pilot:sad:

Chris was one of the best, a pilot's pilot.
It was just this past spring he stated how proud he and the crews at Aerogulf were to continue with their Bell212 operations due to oil company's acknowledgement of their aircraft reliablilty and go to work everyday safety record.

He'll be deeply missed.

God bless

A Thought
 

It is strange how quiet our resident commentators are, when many of us started our careers on our own a long way from home.

Memorial Service for Chris Brown
 

Toady (Sunday 21st September) at 4pm Dubai time (1200 Z) a memorial service is to be held for Chris Brown at the Christ Church in Jebel Ali, UAE. For those of us all around the world it will be an opportunity to take the time to join in with those folk in Dubai to remember Chris. Special thoughts go out to his family. If you want to send flowers try www.jennyflowers.com
[email protected]
they will deliver & are delivering mine.
Tel (9714) 3346222 Fax (9714) 334161 they take Visa/MCard.

Salute to a friend and colleague who will be sadly missed.