Weststar 139 tail incident 30th June 2011?
 

Anyone heard any news. Heard they lost a tail! :eek:

Yep



http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._3850820_n.jpg

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The tally to-date:

1
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q...52520Qatar.jpg
A7-GHC Doha, Qatar: 25th August 2009

2
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-r...252520Kong.jpg
B-MHJ Hong Kong: 3rd July 2010

3
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...g/IMG_2958.jpg
A7-GHA Doha, Qatar: 2nd May 2011

4
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...252520loss.jpg
9M-??? Malaysia: 30th June 2011

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Speculation tally...

1xBonding failure
2xTR Gearbox (1x misplaced tool)
1x??

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Not really speculating. Simply a list of 139 tail-related incidents.

1 Tail Boom failure connected to a previous damage on the same tail leading to collapse;
2 Loss of TRB in flight - possible Bird Strike - investigation ongoing;
3 Loss of TRB o the ground, investigation ongoing;
4 Separation of the tail rotor fin - possible hard landing - investigation ongoing

Aircraft being used for training? Hard landing?

Even so, it doesn't seem to take much to break the tail off these 139s.

Sav- item 3 was A7-GHA at Doha Intnl Apt (you know where to look for that info... ;-) )

All - you may find searches easier if you spell Weststar correctly - yes, it has a double "st" in the middle

Not wanting to jump on the speculation bandwagon, but the latest photo failure point seems to coincide with where the main rotor might impact the boom.

"Even so, it doesn't seem to take much to break the tail off these 139s."

It hit the ground so hard the freakin main gear is wiped off! Of course the tailboom is going to be damaged!!!

I find it fairly interesting that you have four tail rotor separations of one type or another with no significant injury or loss of life.
Fairly fortunate I feel.

noooby

"It hit the ground so hard the freakin main gear is wiped off! Of course the tailboom is going to be damaged!!!"

You may well be right, it does seem down at the rear.

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Exceedingly fortunate Jemax and probably why quite a few in the industry make light of the 139's tail escapades .. even referring to it as the 'Italian Doberman'!

However, when one of these incidents does result in loss of life we may see a sharp rise in apprehension towards the 139 - specifically regarding its tail section. Let's hope such a day does not arrive.

From what I am hearing, the training captain (with two students) aborted the first flight of the day due to some sort of handling problem and he just let it go down like a stone, causing the main blades flex enough to chop the tail. Is it true the TC only had 200 hours on type? The ground clearance of an AW139 is not that much, and the pic of the lonely tail rotor has a grounded helicopter behind, consistent with a very heavy landing and the u/c being pushed up into the fuselage which then ends up sitting on the tarmac.

The ground clearance of what rotating part is not that much?:rolleyes:

Seems a bit far back for blade strike, but time will tell.

The tyres, certainly.http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ilies/nerd.gif
love this comment UL:D:D:D

Ground clearance from lowest point of fuselage to the tarmac

Happy to see rotorcraft certified to the latest standards are proving to be much safer than old pieces of junk that have been out there for 20+ years (212/412/76) :ugh:

At least the 'old stuff' does tend to stay in one piece :}

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You have to bear in mind that we now live in a disposable culture Encyclo! ;)

"From what I am hearing, the training captain (with two students) aborted the first flight of the day due to some sort of handling problem and he just let it go down like a stone, causing the main blades flex enough to chop the tail."


I wonder if the handling problem was related to the tail before the landing?

Weststar has grounded all 139s apparently.