|
Originally Posted by MSAW_CFIT
(Post 6823522)
Would have been better to use a rig like this for that job.
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4012/4...8cd_z.jpg?zz=1 http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4044/4...e7e_z.jpg?zz=1 |
A compilation of two videos from the quayside:
The first video shows clearly the line from the top of the tower to the hook, getting closer as the 350 descends. Both videos show a cameraman relocating away from the shot of a lifetime: I bet he won't live that one down! The second video has the accident from about 3:40 onwards, but watch the crewman. Having had the scare of a lifetime, he is then first one into the cockpit apparently shutting down the engine, then looking to the pilot. I'd be buying him more than one drink :D |
This is video from the camera man who changed positions, but the video clearly shows how the cable was about to hit the rotor and then he has the immediate aftermath
|
Wow, lucky guy.....:ok:As a Utility pilot, I spend most days with head down looking through the vert ref window in a B2/FX on a 100ft line. I can see how this happened.....:eek: As for the helmet, never even do a ground run without it myself. Saved my life many moons ago in the Artic.Shoulder harness a pain when longlining, but I live with it. Just trying to even the odds......:ok: But hey, just got home today after a 4 week tour, all longline, man I got a bad back.....:ugh:Oh yeah, had an engine failure in a B2 early this last summer. Put it down and we all walked, nobody hurt. But ya should see my seat......don't even get me started on that...:{
|
Talking seats, there is little (nothing?) new under the sun. I'm presuming in this case the belt anchorages are on the seat. The Huey in the early days had issues with pilots still strapped in seat being found some distance from the wreckage, having exited the airframe through the windscreen. The simple expedient to fix the problem was to make the seat belt anchorages on the airframe, and not the seat.
Seeing what the pilot had been through very surprised to see him interviewed later and getting about without any apparent injury, as if he had just been for a walk to the corner shop. |
Brian,
No, the seat belt anchorages are on the airframe: but the seat rails are always a nightmare to install the seat and have it adjust properly. But don't expect any response from Eurocopter, it's bound to be someone else's fault :rolleyes: |
Earlier I was going to leap to the defence of the AS350 for being a 'poor design'. Then I read the G-OROZ report that 500e mentioned and now I won't get into one, front or back, unless I know at least that the seat SB has been complied with. Having said that the cabin was tough and the MRGB and blades somehow managed to remain attached which is more than can be said for the early exit of the tailcone.
|
John,
Yep, my seatbelt was anchored to airframe....seat still trashed though, and response from Eurocopter.......:ugh: |
Have you spoken to the guy pulling the cable?
I've tried to get hold of him, but... "He will be back flying on monday in the companys other helicopter, but first he will spend the weekend fishing and buying a lotto ticket.. RESPECT! Chopper pilot keen to finish Viaduct job - National - Video - 3 News |
"The first video shows clearly the line from the top of the tower to the hook, getting closer as the 350 descends. Both videos show a cameraman relocating away from the shot of a lifetime: I bet he won't live that one down!"
On the other hand, the helicopter only needed to not spin quite as much and come forward 10 - 15 feet and he might have got the shot of a lifetime but might not have been around to see it. Glad all are OK though. . |
I am actually still trying to 'see' exactly just what happened as the videos posted on page 2 did not play for me. John's video above was however somewhat revealing.
Am I correct in assuming that the poor chap descended into his own line while it was still affixed to the mast - or am I not seeing things clearly? Either way, I am relieved that no one was injured - perhaps the first miracle of Christmas. |
|
Seems like by yanking the cable downwards it also pulled the end attached to the tower into the disk?
Full marks to all those who after the thrashing ceased, but while there was still the most horrendous noise, didn't hesitate to run into harms way :ok: And the tower wasn't pulled over in the mayhem either..... Mickjoebill |
Savoia, try going to 3news.co.nz has an interview tonight and real slow motion of the moment that the ground crew grab the cable and bring the whole show down.
Greg says on the TV interview that was always the plan for the guy to yank the cable, but i just can't see how that would ever work with the length of line he had on. |
3 News:
Chopper pilot keen to finish Viaduct job By Amanda Gillies The Auckland pilot who walked away from a helicopter crash at the Viaduct does not remember a thing, saying he blacked out. Greg Gribble was saved by his seatbelt, which dragged him back into the aircraft seconds before it plunged into the ground. His million dollar helicopter has been written off yet he has just a tiny scratch on his finger. He is now keen to go back and finish the job and says he is feeling “alive”. “Very grateful. And very grateful nobody else got hurt. That's the main thing,” says Mr Girbble. How nobody got hurt is difficult to fathom. He does not remember being half-flung out of his chopper or the moment it slammed into the ground but he has watched footage many times. He is too terrified to think how close he came to the rotor blades. “If I had gone out and stayed out here, I’d have been cut to shreds.” Trouble started a moment after Mr Gribble released a light cable hooked on to the bottom of the aircraft. A grounds man pulled the cable, which was the plan, but somehow something went haywire. He hasn’t been able to get in touch with the grounds man. “I've tried to get hold of him. But I think he's in a bit of shell shock as well.” They were half way through what should have been a “relatively easy job'”, lifting a Christmas tree into place at Auckland’s Viaduct. He's prepared to go back to finish the job. “They might not want me back. I don't have a problem going back there but they probably won't have me back.” Mr Gribble has been flying choppers for 20 years. He bought his Squirrel about eight years ago. It has always been his baby and always had a clean bill of health. But now it has been written off. It costs about $1.5 million dollars and thankfully he is insured. He will be back flying on Monday in the company's other chopper. But first he will spend the weekend fishing and will buy a lotto ticket. Mind you the clearances shouldn't have been that tight, in a perfect world ;) |
Clearly a case of Divine Retribution for putting up the Christmas Tree too early - lesson learned but miraculously noone gets hurt.
|
yeah but the "little pull" was part of the plan. therefore might need to look at his planning.
lucky it was his machine, imagine trying to explain to your boss why his lovely helicopter he let you take to work today is looking a bit tired and on TV around the world!!! |
A very lucky pilot and ground crew.
Good job it wasn't a 355. They almost always burn. |
Yeah, he was thrown around like a rag-doll. A few inches more in certain directions and he'd be in far worse shape though. Lucky man.
|
Looking at the heli-ops photos, if that pesky tail wasn't in the way he might have ended up back on his skids. That would have been impressive!
|
I don't doubt that the insurance company will be looking into their 'Ground Handling Techniques' and saving copies of the video tapes...
|
It's fairly clear from the 3news.co.nz video what happened and I'm glad the media probably got it right this time.
The AS350 has a relatively short MR disc overhang ahead of the cockpit due to the positioning of the MR shaft a bit further back (great for forward view in utility work) but the same cannot be said for lateral clearance due to the unavoidable radius of the disc swept by the MR blades. Lateral clearance thus could be deceptive and a wider berth is certainly the more prudent course. It's a huge relief that, although everyone was visibly shaken, none was hurt. I bet the lucky pilot is going to feel a few aches and pains waking up the next morning though, after the initial rush of adrenalin has passed through. |
How do you 'tighten up' judgement?
Its easy to bandy words about but difficult to actually increase safety. |
From a fixed wing pilot, a quick question.
The tail boom seems to seperate very quickly without apparent contact with anything... Is that usual in these kind of accidents? Thanks DD |
Shock loads of a violent nature will remove tails in most helicopters. After viewing a number of videos at several angles & speeds, A ground crewman "helped" unhook the long line with a pull and the line got into the rotors. What is disturbing is the pilot seat failing as quickly as it did.
|
Shock loads may have been involved but more attention should be paid to the main rotor contacting and rotating the fixed cable, which was attatched above and below, through the tailboom....kinda like a cheese slicer...
|
The Crewman pulled the cable free of the hook-the hook & cable wound in the rotors ,If you look at the failure, The boom still had its bulkhead that bolts to the Airframe, If the cable was still attached the boom as you said it would have been sliced.
|
Mayb the line didn't slice the boom, mayb as it swung around, the line pulled past the boom and pulled down on the end of the boom. That would have made the tail fold I would think.
|
There must be a different vid showing the line releasing from the hook because I could not see that on the 4 clips reviewed. I'll stick with the cheese slicer theory. I'm sure something close to the truth will come out in the accident report.
Glad everyone is ok |
Originally Posted by blackdog7
(Post 6825797)
There must be a different vid showing the line releasing from the hook because I could not see that on the 4 clips reviewed. I'll stick with the cheese slicer theory. I'm sure something close to the truth will come out in the accident report.
Glad everyone is ok In this photo, there appears to be a line still attached to the hook: http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1322017927/003/6021003.jpg |
Morbid fascination
I've watched multiple videos of this episode taken from a couple of different vantage points. Seeing that airframe flex & warp after that first blade comes off is some of the most impressive chopper related footage I've ever seen. Great instructional material. As a humble R22 pilot I never realised the big rodent could move so quickly, very sobering.
|
???? I that His head set hanging below the helicopter????
|
I think that's the hook
|
Its his headset hanging out the door and below the helicopter. Pics on the news showed it hanging there broken as well. It WAS a Bose :)
|
He was extremely fortunate. I looked at the video footage a few times, and every time I watch it my hair stands up straight. :}
|
A main rotor blade strike does a lot of very bad things to the aircraft in flight. First, the initial impact, significant enough to cause structural failure of that blade, stresses everything from the point of impact to the power plant. There's typically something like 20 times the amount of useful lift in centrifugal force in the MR blades. the event would create an imbalance that could affect the aircraft dramatically. Off the top of my head, the last issue would be a difference in lift by the airfoil involved when it's "inadvertently de-optimized" by the event. That difference in lift also creates it's own imbalance as the blades doesn't flex as before and is now further out of phase.
Catastrophic structural failures, like the tail boom separating in this video, is pretty typical of this kind of event. |
The old fella should be buying Lottery Tickets in my view....except he has used up a lot of luck all in one go.:uhoh:
|
Greg back in the driver's seat
The helicopter pilot who survived a dramatic crash at Auckland Viaduct has returned to the air, one week after the flight that almost ended his life. http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1322626904/595/6063595.jpg Greg Gibble back in the seat today Greg Gribble was back in pilot's seat for the first time today, and he was particularly safety conscious. Last Wednesday he walked away virtually unscathed from a crash while installing part of the Telecom Christmas Tree in downtown Auckland. Gribble was thrown halfway out of the B2 Squirrel helicopter which also missed several people standing below. This morning he was back in the seat for the first time since the crash, accompanied by ONE News reporter Jack Tame. "You guys are pretty game coming up with me, you realise that, especially today," said Gribble. And after 20 years piloting helicopters, he admitted he had never felt so nervous. "It definitely shatters your confidence...a lot of mixed emotions," he said. The footage has wracked up more than 100,000 online views and Gribble said "it's a humbling thing to have the world watch your own near death experience". It took a few days after he had been cleared of injuries for the adrenalin and shock to wear off. "For those first 15 minutes where you're trying to go to sleep, you just relive it over and over and over again." Civil Aviation is still investigating and Gribble's family business will get by over summer with its other helicopter. A replacement helicopter costs about $1.5 million but it is not a simple process to get a new one and it will be several months before the business is back to its full complement. "Getting over the emotional side of things is probably the main thing," said Gribble who also admitted that going out flying today had "helped a lot". |
Nice to see him back in the air.
Right at the end of the video when he is landing on the dolly - Does his Door fly OPEN ???? |
He would have opened the door to see better when landing on trolly.
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 01:01. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.