wtf?

Seriously-who was flying there?

There is no information about scenic flights being made with this helicopter nor that the guy on the controls is a low timer.

It all happened awfully quick once the skid dug in :uhoh:. Scary...

At that speed, he might have got away with it on tarmac. Hard to understand why the drift at such a low level was allowed to continue.

The CP of a company I once worked for re-positioned a 206 in a field with a high speed lateral move VERY close to the ground, with me wondering how he could judge the distance that precisely. he then set it down with a thud and said in surprise; "oh, high skids." My eyes got wider.

Looks like that was his first flight... possibly last one too! :E:E

Very sad for the fatal victim though..

Geez!

When this thread started and the pics suggested that the hilly terrain caught out the pilot doing stationary pedal turns, it didn't sound so lame as the actual events, once you see the video.

Exactly the same thinking as HR. What the hell is that guy doing????
Hovering close to ground at low speeds going in direction of the nose in controlled fashion is one thing, sweeping sideways so fast so low, ehrm, :mad: it is.

People hurt and killed nearby get affected by this unwise flying. Sad.

With every accident like this, public would lose more and more trust in aviation and helicopter industry in general and I'm not the one to blame them, if they find out more. I'd like to know the experience of the pilot flying, too.

copied from this: Metzingen: Ein Toter und mehrere Verletzte nach Hubschrauberabsturz - Baden-Württemberg - Stuttgarter Zeitung

EC-120, multi-pilot helicopter? I guess not!

Demo flight with 2 pilots then perhaps? One studentpilot building hours with an instructor not being close enough on the controlls? Much like the Longranger video??

Evissa,
Taken from Casualties
09/09/2012 D-HALX (photo) Eurocopter EC120B Colibri (1278)--- EC120B Colibri crashed at Roßfeld Gliderfield near Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, whilst offering pleasure flights at the annual flying festival.


This type of creeping along the ground is something you'll see in student pilots and low timers ALL the time, as they have been warned about the imminent engine-failure that not: MIGHT, but WILL occur ''so better be prepared for when it's going to happen to you!!''
At least they normally point the helicopter in the right direction. This is acutally lower than most!!

I am sure that there have been more roll-overs with total loss of the A/C, from this manouvering than to engine-failures in hover at 5-15 ft skid height.

Exactly as we suspected.. Judging by the snatchy lift, the inaccurate spot turn and the barely in control hover taxi, I'd say this was a very inexperienced EC120 pilot. Even a very low hour student would have been able to control a spot turn in calm conditions and taught not to be flying sideways that low to the ground. This accident and the death of an innocent spectator was the product of ignorance; somewhere there is an instructor who should called to account. :=

Hi,

the pilot of the crashed EC 120 is 79 years old. The helicopter was his own private machine and he was flying it for years.

Several times I saw his demonstrations at this event, which takes place every second year (I live in the city next to the airfield).
----

by the way, I'm René. It's my first post here at pprune and I only use to read in this forum (but for years). Hello @ all!

Hey Rene/Renszy, so if you got this insider info, who was the other person, described as 'co-pilot' by newspapers/media? Presume that the owner was 'Der Pilot'. Did he let the 'younger'/junior guy fly the helicopter?

So you're saying the owner was the (ehrm, I know, airline term) Pilot Flying or the other person? So this 79yo chap was the PIC in the eyes of LBA/CAA?

3' always worked for me; I suppose there's the possibility of height misjudgement due to sloping ground (maybe, just judging from the video).

So quick.

The examiner who took most of my check rides hated it, when we were hovering to low, even in R22's. He always argued that, by trying to be prepared for the unlikely event of an engine failure in the hover, we were taking far greater risks of having a dynamic roll over or a tail strike. After several thousand hours of bush flying now, I must say, I totally agree with him. You can get pretty good at hover auto's, even from a lot higher than 3ft, if you are expecting it, but then again are you always expecting it? If that engine abruptly quits on you in a hover, you will turn at least 90° before you even know what happened. Hopefully we'll all be quick enough and make a safe hover auto, if that ever happens, but it's almost impossible to recover a dynamic roll over. The video of this tragic event is a prime example for that.
I rather hover a bit higher and stay away from air shows as an active participant.

Frank Robinson said that there had never been a wreck of his machines through hovering too high. But plenty from hovering too low.

@ MartinCH:
Hubschrauberunglück: Polizei auf dem Roßfeld - Reutlinger General-Anzeiger - Region Reutlingen - Neckar + Erms

in this article the 79 yeary old guy (the owner) is confirmed as the pilot (PIC), the other "younger" guy (57) as his co-pilot.

Additionally I got the same information from my guys of one of the rescue units which where in duty at the airfield during the accident (I'm the leader of one of the deployed units).

...waiting for the investigation report of the BFU (agency for aviation accident investigation)