AS350 slips/spins on helipad
 

Hi,
Does anyone have a link to the video of the AS350 slipping/spinning on the helipad in Italy on the 27.07.2009
Thanks.

Only a few days ago? I haven't seen it mentioned before.

Only one I thought of was the Swiss one (HB-XVB) a year ago landing on a dolly.

Found this link.... its the 6th video down.
Archiv Sendung vom 27.07.2009, 10vor10, SF1
I am trying to find it on youtube as well.....

Was the gist of this that their reporter freaked out and jumped out to attempt being wiped out by the boom and tail rotor

Yeah.. doesn't look like the best time to be standing out there. The main rotor blades are doing quite a dance too.

The details from the video:
I-LVNA on the island of Ischia.

It would appear that the pilot wasn't sitting squarely when the helicopter started to turn. Did he lean on something?

The PIC continues to lean across the panel even after the machine starts its 360?!

Also, the disk seems to be at max pitch at 10 o'clock so the reporter was fortunate to have run backwards - if he'd run forwards, I think he may have lost his loaf :eek:

Wow... That was surely a close call. Not the smartest thing to do getting out of that helo.

Does anyone know where the incident report can be read?

Best regards.

Anyone any ideas as to what might have caused this? Momentary lapse in attention, Not frictioning the collective enough allowing it to come up on its own? Maybe made worse by slamming the collective down and thus reducing the torque to a minimum while already too much right pedal in(power pedal due to clockwise rotation).

Just trying to figure it out, so it doesn't happen to me someday.

Looks like a couple of things contributed to this near accident.

It rotated against the torque reaction off the main rotor so it must have had a lot of right pedal in. Perhaps the pilot did this inadvertently whilst leaning over the console to help his passenger strap in.

The Squirrel has a clip on the bulkhead and a corresponding metal "pip" on the lever to hold down the collective. If this isn't engaged, the collective rises as the hydraulics come on line during the start sequence and the aircraft goes light on the skids all by itself. I used to put my knee across the collective to make doubly sure this "gotcha" didn't "get me".

Hardly, Shy. With hyds off, the lever will go to about 8degrees of pitch - takes a considerable force to push it down to engage the clip. What can happen, if the clip is not adjusted correctly, is that as the hyds come on the clip releases, but the lever won't rise unless the hyds are then switched off (why we double check the clip and put friction on before the hyd functionals).

Has anyone been able to find another version of this video?
I'm looking for one that i can download to show someone.

I'm not an accident investigator, but it sounds likely he was pushing with his right foot (against the right pedal) to lean across to his pax and also thereby pushing the cyclic forward and left. That would explain the clockwise spin and the extreme disc attitude. What I find very odd is that the pilot seems completely oblivious to the spin and continues to lean left until it's almost over :confused:

At flight rpm one day (col friction on) just prior to t/off I was distracted by something a pax was doing behind me that needed my full attention, I was leaning around to the right as far as pos whilst waving my right arm frantically (AS350 right hand doors off on a fuel soaked timber pad) the chopper yawed about 30" and nearly off the pad, I hadn't realized in turning to the right I had used pressure on my right foot to do so.

Traps for the young and foolish not so, if your not looking up its hard to tell what the movement your feeling is, and if its sudden and unexpected what to do about it:O

He needs some more training then - if he has a sudden and unexpected engine failure (as they almost always will be), he'd better make sure he instinctively knows precisely what to do about it - immediately :ok:

I wonder if the passenger was pushing something and the pilot was trying to get him to stop? As soon as the passenger got out the spin stopped.

one thing is for sure, that chewing gym got a fair work out after it stopped spinning!

IMHO the pilot was trying to correct something that had gone wrong on the center consol, whether the co pilot/passenger had done some thing is very possible, as its stops when he, foolishly, gets out.


still would have shut it down and gone for a cuppa at least before even thinking of going up in her again!

The speedy chewing of gum says speaks volumes - and the look on his face says, (loose translation), " Oh sh!t - there's a camera! I'll be all over YouTube and Pprune by tomorrow! Perhaps if I fly back now, I can drop the aircraft off and be away home before the boss sees it!. :uhoh:

Learn from the mistakes of others - you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Regarding the discussion about the collective coming up by itself. Would it not be safe to assume that in this case the collective was all the way down ? If it were up, wouldn't the helicopter rollover, especially with that much cyclic directed to the one side ?
(This is just a question from an enthusiast. I'd like to see what pilots have to say about it)

Certainly looked like min pitch. Anyone here understand German? Looks as though 'an expert' had something to say after the first clip.