S76 crash Myanmar
 

Today's press
Helicopter crashes in sea off Myanmar, killing 3 - Forbes.com

Anybody know who operates there these days?

Google is your friend, looks like it was Heli-Union with a French captain.

3 Killed in Yetagun Copter Crash

Tragic news.......but I doubt it is an S76.

I admit the "French built SK-76" threw me at first too, but then ASN Aircraft accident 11-JUL-2011 Sikorsky- Keystone S-76C-2 seems to identify it as an S76C++.

The reason I say that is that the US gov has an embargo on Myanmar and will not allow the use of US built a/c there. That is why CHC was forced to pull out.

Maybe that does not apply to French companies ;)

I work for an energy company in Myanmar (Burma)
The majority of aircraft operating in Myanmar are USA built. We fly a Bell 412. Sanctions issues are hugely misunderstood. There are no restrictions whatsoever to having a USA built aircraft in Myanmar. Some USA and Canadian companies may choose not to operate here, but many do.
The chopper was a Heli-union S76 C++ on contract to Petronas and coming off the Floating Storage and Offtake vessel in the Yetagun field. The aircraft took off, cleared the heli deck and was climbing away when it went down quite suddenly. The stories going around Yangon are that they lost an engine. this is of great concern to everyone in the oil and gas business here as we have always been assured that the C++ could translate from take off to flight and either continue to destination or return and land on one engine and compensation for the loss of one engine was 'automatic'. i would love to have some knowledgeable person here give an opinion.
The co-pilot, and two passengers drowned, the rest were able to exit the aircraft. The aircraft is currently being salvaged.
My thoughts are with the families of my colleagues who perished.

OK, that may be the case in CHCs' instance. However, I do seem to remember a time when CHC operated in Iran and the US gov and Sikorsky said that if they continued to operate there they would cut off parts supply.

CHC left Myanmar because at the time they were listed on the NYSE and as a consequence to that could not continue operations. Had they not been listed they probably could have continued there.

Tragic News for sure. It was a S-76C++ operated by Heli-Union

Rigrat

The C++ should have been able to fly away on one engine if the take off weights were correctly calculated. Heli Union are a good operator with good procedures and many years experience. The C++ is a reliable aircraft and is in use worldwide.

Of course one can always be proved wrong but the balance of probabilities would suggest to me that this is unlikely to be just a staightforward simple engine failure. They are statistically rare, especially to occur at such a critical stage of flight and should not result in a crash.

Do you know if the floats were inflated?

Does Heli Union have a local partner who provides cojoes?
Do they get sim training and CRM?

HU Crew plus 9 onboard, aircraft taking off from a FSO... Tragic news :(

It will be interesting to read both Turbomeca and Sikorsky's reports.

Just had a quick glance at the Thai Met Dept and here's the general situation for today Jul 13th at 4am: The monsoon trough remains across Myanmar, Laos and upper of Vietnam while the rather strong southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand. Scattered to fairly widespread rain is likely over the country. Isolated heavy rain is expected in the Northeast, the East and the South west coast, people in the areas should beware of heavy rain. The wind wave in the Andaman Sea and the eastern part of upper Gulf of Thailand is intensifying. All ship should proceed with caution and small boats in the Andaman Sea should keep ashore during 13-16 July, 2011.

The deceased co-pilot was an ex-Myanmar Air Force Pilot.. Floats were inflated on the aircraft. Unsubstantiated rumours are that the aircraft went upside down almost immediately.

Sad news - Ohn Thein was a true gentleman.

Your right;

Ohn Thein was a good hearted man. I have met his family also on numerous occasions. I worked with him for 7 years with CHC. Played several games of Golf with him also.
Sad news for sure.

This industry now has gone Safety crazy,but at the end of the day What happens.. happens and there is nothing we can do about it.

Pray this does not happen again.

Chopper76C,

That is not a view that I, and many others, would accept.

There is a great deal that can be done to avoid unnecessary accidents without having to subscribe to a no-accident utopia.

Fatalism rarely encourages progress.

Jim

Re engine failures during take off or landing offshore, there are rarely any operational regulations that require engine failure to be accounted for and very few helicopter types have certificated Flight Manual procedures for offshore use. The only rules I know of are the JAR OPS 3 PC2e rules that require safe reject onto the deck, deck edge clearance and staying above the sea for the continued T/O or Go Around, plus safe landing on the helideck for the approach case, in the event of an engine failure at any time. These are not generally applied even in Europe because JAA is dead and EASA has not taken over fully yet. In fact there are many in our industry who are arguing that accounting for engine failure is not required (low probability of occurrence) and are trying to get the JAA/EASA rules removed/changed. If you truly account for engine failure, the payloads that come out of a CAT A or PC2e take off and landing procedure are not always very good for many helicopter types and the vast majority of helicopter offshore operations are at higher weights, with the associated risk periods in the event of an engine failure. If that is how we want to operate then fine, but let's not kid ourselves that all types at all times will survive an engine failure. We need much more installed power than is normal to do that.
Hopefully the facts from this sad accident, engine failure or not, will become availble for all of us to use to help improve safety in the future.

Ref Icer3..................JimL, "you have control Sir" !!!

Ohn Thein
 

Oh what a nice guy he was. I flew with and trained Ohn Thein while working for CHC working out of Yangon for 2 years.
He was a great golfer also representing the military at tournaments.
Alot of my fellow pilots are going to be so saddened.
God bless ya buddy!!

Any prelim info on this accident yet?
Unlikely an engine failure, unlikely a failure would have caused a ditch - a C++ with fuel for Yetagon to Kanbauk and 9 Burmese on board should have been 1000 lbs under MTOW, multiply those two remote probabilities together and there isn't much left. With auto floats, push out windows, external rafts, jettisonable doors, Huet training, even a ditching should have been no more drama than the Bristow 332 in Nigeria.

WTH happened?

Any news 2 weeks after the accident?

Bell4can