Incident at Swansea airport....
 

Details sketchy at present...

BBC link...

BBC NEWS | Wales | Helicopter 'crashes at airport'

R44 owned by a Swansea car dealer according to G Info - hope he's OK :uhoh:

Have they released the names of the POB yet?

Interesting statement in the press report.
Sounds like the pilot knows exactly what caused the crash. It's refreshing to know that somebody is prepared to be honest to save expensive costs of investigating something - at least I hope that's what this means!

I don't think the AIB send any investigators unless someone has actually died. Certainly that is the way it appears from the AIB reports I have read. If the pilot survives they write up the report and that is it as far as the AIB are concerned unless there is some indication that there was something wrong with the aircraft.

AAIB to conduct "paper investigation" of R44 crash at Swansea
 

The crash happened yesterday at Fairwood Airport, Swansea. The Western Mail reports the two people in the helicopter were taken to Morriston Hospital where the male passenger – believed to be the owner of the aircraft – received treatment for serious head injuries.The pilot suffered minor head injuries.
The paper says "Mid and West Wales Fire Service said the privately-owned Robinson R44 crashed near the helipad as it descended to land at about 2.15pm. The main rotor was said to have struck the ground and broken off before the aircraft rolled onto its side. No other aircraft was involved.

The Western Mail; quotes a spokeperson for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch saying : “We are investigating the crash but we are not sending any investigators there The investigation will be done from the paper report by the pilot.”
Is that standard procedure these days?

The aircraft registration is visible in the picture.

In a prohephic entry to G-INFO in 2002, a previous owner has recorded this ...

How is an aircraft destroyed then reborn?

Triggers broom......


obviously the serial number survived!

(For non UK readers, it's a reference to a TV series called "Only fools and horses" if you haven't seen it then you should...)

I think the helicopter was damaged before at some time in its life, it was then sent back to Robinson to be repaired and possibly zero timed.

On a more worrying point I believe the pilot and passenger had their clothes removed by the police for forensic investigation before they were airlifted to hospital can you believe !!! and the pilot was not allowed to retrieve his telephone or car keys from the damaged machine as the police deemed the crash a "crime scene" he might get them back tomorrow. I was also told that the police wanted to take him to the station for a statement before he went to the hospital!

I think the airport has just reopened this afternoon after nearly 2 days because of the "crime scene"

I dont know about you but since when did having an innocent accident while taking off become a crime !!!!!!

If he was a car dealer then he probably would be a criminal

criminally insane to fly a robbo ??

Clothing retention may be for GSR or narcotic trace purposes.

Tailboom,

From the police point of view, if the incident is deemed to be 'life threatening' or 'life changing' they are bound to treat the scene of the incident as a possible crime scene until it it proved to be otherwise.

That means the scene would have to be forensically examined and evidentially photographed and exhibits taken.

Obviously at the time the serious head injuries were deemed to be possibly life changing and therefore their hands were tied.

I hope that explains things a bit.

LM

Accidents, police and ATC
 

HI

for my misfortune, I have witnessed 3 Robinson heli accidents at airfields in the UK.

In each case there was some degree of personal injury.

In each case the airfield re opened within with an hour or two

In each case no police were called.

Could some one exlplain exactly why the police are involved at Swansea?

were they called by over entheusiastic ATC?

Did they(police) over step their authority?

The most seriously injured pasenger was left lying (BY THE POLICE) on wet grass, in Forensic type clothing, with obvious very serious head injuries!!!
UNTIL SUCH TIME AS AN ONLOOKER COVERED HIM UP!!!

Why was the airport not reopened for 3 full days??

An explanation from ATC and PLOD would be welcome

Tot,

Please see my earlier post as part explanation.

LM

So the cops job is not to be worrying about people with possible life threatening injuries but to secure the scene in order to secure a conviction. Some common sense needs to be taught here. But you can't teach the unteachable!:ugh:

or could be
 

perhaps the police did first aid whilst waiting for an ambulence and took a load of clothes off to look for injuries etc. Then whilst still waiting for an ambulance and the patient getting cold they decided the easiest way to get some clothes on him again was to use a forensic suit they had in the back of the car, whilst still waiting for the ambulence! How long was it between accident and ambulence attending? The medics would want them in the ambulence PDQ hooked up to machines etc and ready to roll.

Still, can always complain to the IPCC

G

incident at swansea
 

This is my advice,
if you dont want to bleed to death, The compress that was eventually applied to the patients head wounds was someones tshirt!!!!!no-one had a compress!!!!!!or suffer hypertheria,(whilst being surrounded by paramedics,)they took the patients shirt off and left him uncovered for at least ten miutes,or be asked to accompany a police officer (to a nice warm room)at the police station to make a statement, ten minutes after stepping out of the carnage, or answer an order to remove your clothes for bagging for forensic examination, this again happend ten minutes after the incident and whilst being severely traumatized, or have your phone and your car keys confiscated,for three days,being taken to hospital with two police officers shadowing your every move, and i mean shadowing!!!breathalised, whilst still in very severe shock, and then being told this was not a legal requirement.
being told the area was now considered a serious crime scene.
THEN PLEASE DO NOT COME TO EGFH!!!!!!!!

Police reaction a likely a consequence of the recent gyro incident: -

Following that incident, chief constables look at aviation accidents anew and consider themselves obliged to protect the possible crime scene & gather evidence.

Do they...

a) Have an officer on-the-scene make a case-by-case assessment of whether the accident might involve a crime and act accordingly?

b) Play safe and treat each incident as a potential crime?

The UK has been having a love affair with health and safety legislation and the Data Protection Act, or rather, a misapplication of both. And has also had a lobotomy where common sense is concerned. Don't hold out much hope for a)


LM

a child falling out of a tree could be 'life threatening' or 'life changing', tripping over a kerb too; there has to be a little more to the guidelines than that or everything would be a potential crime.

GSR??
 

Heli-cal,

Why would the Police be looking for GSR???? :ugh::ugh::ugh:

I personally think its way out of the Police's authority to be doing this if half of the above is true.

Where were the fire brigade as there?
Theres no mention of them....

And if they have found nothing and were stripping injured pilot and passenger 10 mintutes after a damn helicopter crash they are and should be in a lot of trouble! Where was there evidence or source to support doing such a thing?

And 3 days? I've seen airfields open faster with fatalities!