PPRuNe Forums - SAR Heli down in Almeria

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Eyesparky,

be assured that they are out in full force searching.
The Spanish tv was showing a lot about the search today.

I can only imagine what waiting for news must be like.

The maritime rescue service has issued a complain, because ATC's initial distress call was 112 (911). According to them, this meant an important delay in reaction time. I think they have a point there...

The wreckage has been located in 94m deep waters and the radio controlled sub was expected to arrive at 1000UTC.

Edit: It was only a matter of time, but Spanish news are already comparing this crash to the one of a S61 in 2006 ( http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/233...y-islands.html ).

eivissa,

As annoying as it is to recognize it, from all the so called "reporters", spaniards are second to none, when it comes to making stuff up and trying to sell papers away :ugh::ugh:.

Another thing I had to stand hearing is that they ran out of fuel, just because they told ATC that they were coming back for refuelling.... :yuk: :yuk:

At least, Ppruners have the understanding and comprehension enough to tell the rubbish out of the publishings.

P.S. Could you point which media did you hear that from?

Thanks

B

El dispositivo de búsqueda halla a 85 metros de profundidad restos que podrían ser del 'Helimer 207'. europapress.es

A military vessel, originally designed for mine-searching, reports to have found the remains of Helimer 207 at 85m below the water surface. Currently they are preparing to send down the radio controlled sub.

AgustaWestland technicians are on scene to help with the tracing of the black box.

Quote:

Maybe no relation

Exactly. So let's be patient, eh?

Choppersky, I have to admit as soon as I saw it was a 139 I did think the same thing, but lets hope it wasn't the same problem. I'm fairly sure that would have a massive knock on effect to all 139's worldwide.
Droopy, this is a RUMOUR network, and we all have our own take on this sort of thing.

Condolences to those affected and RIP to those lost souls.

Helicopter wreckage located off the coast of Almería

Quote:

Helicopter wreckage located off the coast of Almería

By h.b. - Jan 23, 2010 - 6:44 PM
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spai...pterfamily.jpg

Anxious family members of the missing men - EFE
Three men are believed to have died when the rescue helicopter went down on Thursday

A navy ship, using its sonar, has located what is thought to be the wreckage of the rescue helicopter which crashed five miles off the coast of Almería on Thursday.

The remains of the Helimer 207 are lying at a depth of 85 metres. It came down for reasons which remain a mystery when returning from routine manoeuvres.
Technicians from the company AgustaWestland, the makers of the craft, have travelled to the zone and say they have located the signal from the copter’s black box.

Only one of the four men on board has been rescued and is now in hospital in a serious condition. The three men who are lost have been named as the Captain, José Luis López Alcalá from Granada, the copilot, Kevin Holmes, from New Zealand and resident of Granada and Iñigo Vallejo García, from Sevilla.

Rescue helicopter crashes off Almeria coast | Spanish News

Quote:

Three people were missing and one found in a serious condition as a helicopter which had gone to carry out some flight maneuvers crashed into the sea five nautical miles off the coast of Almeria. According to reports by emergency services, there was a phone alert received by them from the control tower at the Almeria airport at around 8:30 PM yesterday, informing them about the incident.
Flares were seen from the spot where the chopper “Helimer” is said to have crashed after losing connectivity with the radar and radio control. Four people were on board and three of them are missing. The one who has been rescued is reported to be in a serious condition.
The four are reported to have gone for the purpose of carrying out flight maneuvers with a ship named ‘Nevola’. Search for the people missing is still on and the reason for the mishap is yet to be established.

Rescue helicopter plunges into sea in Almería

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Rescue helicopter plunges into sea in Almería
By: thinkSPAIN , Friday, January 22, 2010

http://www.thinkspain.com/news/new-R....jpg&width=250THREE people have disappeared after a coastguard helicopter crash-landed into the sea opposite Almería airport, emergency services reveal.
They were called by staff at the air control tower at 20.30hrs last night after seeing flares about five miles out to sea and having lost control of the helicopter by radio and on screen.
The craft, Helimer, was transporting four people, one of whom was rescued and taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Rescuers brought the victim in to shore, as far as the jetty where a Guardia Civil lifeboat was moored.
The remaining three crew-members have not been seen since the helicopter plunged into the Mediterranean for reasons that have not yet been ascertained.

iafrica.com | news | world news Rescue helicopter crashes

Quote:

Rescue helicopter crashes

Article By:
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:08
Three people were missing after a maritime rescue helicopter crashed into the sea off southern Spain late on Thursday, emergency services said. A fourth person aboard the aircraft was rescued after the accident off the port of Almeria, and was hospitalised suffering from hypothermia. Three boats and four helicopters of the rescue service were scouring the seas late into the night for the three missing persons. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.

Gentlemen, from well informed sources there was nothing wrong with the aircraft.
I'll keep it at that.
Aser may be able to confirm this.

Also I am confident that this is going to reinforce AW position with regards to the floats armed/non armed argument...even though at that speed...:(

Agusta doesn't need to "reinforce its position". They state their position quite clearly in their RFM. What this incident does is reinforce my position that pilots should follow the RFM with regards to arming the floats, instead of second-guessing the design and certification process. I appreciate Agusta going the extra mile with their float design and switch logic to allow for an extra fail-safe should a CFIT incident occur. Looking forward to other manufacturers following suit.

Couldn't agree more, people and companies "deciding" that float should be armed below certain speeds only and not on coasting out is ludicrous, RFM clearly states AW position.

It was only a matter of time before someone posted the picture of GHC, another armchair accident investigator.

Lunar

Malabo and Lunar, I agree with ya'll and AW on that subject.
Operators changing checklists every fortnight because the training boss of the day doesn't like to wait for the CAS message panel check or because he flew a 412 for all his life, ought to take advice.

Back to the accident and praying for the souls of the missing.:(:sad:

The radio controlled sub has found the three missing crew members. I think no further comment needed.

My thoughts are with the families and those directly involved.

Spanish article about helicopter accidents in Spain during the last twenty years:

Tecnología - El siniestro de Almería, el más grave que ha sufrido Salvamento Marítimo - ADN.es

I find your post of the photo quiet pathetic :=. Ok this is a rumors network but there are thousands of reasons to be investigated. Show some respect to the victims and thier relatives and control your ego in posting anything!

I'm with you iuk1963

As anyone knows who has read the thread on the AW139 failure at DOH, I have a very active interest in this failure. But please, chppersky let us at least wait until we at least have photos of the wreckage before we jump to conclusions. Photos are a more important source of information than speculation at this stage.

I express my condolences, especially to "eyesparky". There is a special bond that put the NZ in ANZAC. Best wishes and if ever we meet, you can have a Speights or ten on me for your brother and I'll pay for the taxi home.

Regards

blakmax

I am absolutely convinced that in tragedy like this your speculations.. (i.e. Choppersky) is absolutely stupid, unnecessary, absurd and insensitive...

makrider - you are on the ball with that.

I'm troubled by blakmak's Freudian slip there about jumping to conclusions:

Quote:

let us at least wait until we at least have photos of the wreckage before we jump to conclusions

Speculation is speculation.

Speculations are worse case with almost no real evidence from site, but
hypothetical approach can be in a way:

- out of fuel case, still auto rotation possible, have been in 139 during one
auto rotation test, only stronger thump, nothing else.
- flotations did not sustain impact, must be strong impact for sure, or auto
logic is not working like expected. Must mention here Copterline S76 case,
replacement helicopters was 2 AW139 units, out of business now tnx to hard crisis
in Helsinki/Tallin area, one year ago.
- CFIT case? We have seen one recently, tail blown away too, tnx to the impact
or maybe not. Any one have ever seen that investigation report? Not likely...

Therefore let's hope that in this case we can expect fair and public report for the
mutual good of all... We all know well, that safety procedures for the last 100 years
are mostly written by blood of our fellows, and we are still in business and around
looking up there, for our own piece of sky...