Two dead in Houston helicopter crash
 

An R-22 crashed in northeast Houston, Texas on Monday, killing both persons aboard.

Story here

Upright with the blades seemingly in-tact...

Discuss..... For the purpose of education....

Thank you sir.

Blades yes, intact - upright and not showing signs of over pitching. That does not mean they were not very close to that number.

These R22's can fall fast enough before actual blade stall to be very seriously injurious to occupants.

Other eyewitness reports, I would go straight to the forward short shaft, couplings and or flex plate assy's first. It could be that a flailing short shaft may have ruptured a fuel tank (has happened years ago over here) which spilt toward hot engine upon arrival at ground.

It would be hard to correlate a spinning aircraft with belt failure, simple engine failure or other driven / driving restriction and still have blades thus at arrival.

Praise for the pilot also for putting it down upright in a confusing situation, sorry it didn't turn out better.

High praise also for the people on the ground, to just run forward instead of backward takes courage for starters and to be clear headed about a rescue is most worthy.

Condolences to family and those affected by this.

tet

TR failure? Could this have been another survivable if it wasn't for the Robbie fire ball? Investigators should get to the cause within minutes..

RIP.

It does seem as though the pilot did well to get it down in one piece in an obstruction free area.

From the photos, I could not see whether the TR was intact. Can anyone advise?

A failure of the main drive could lead to a shaft whipping around close to the tanks, which could account for the fuel fire. There does not seem to be much debris left in the area of the tanks.

Top of the World
 

RIP fellow Rotorheads

the Crapinson Flimsicopter kills again (& again & again & again) :{:yuk::yuk::yuk::{

Idea for discussion
 

Photo Flight Scenario

OGE hover, just fueled, LTE or SWP (Vortex Ring), full left Pedal droop Rotor, collective droop rotor further incresased rotation - very hard vertical impact with little or no forward speed, back injuries incapacitating occupants, post crash fire killing both people

or

TR failure (Drive) ruptured fuel tank, fire was post crash thought

Sad either way and a horrible way to go

RIP - thoughts are with family and friends

already discussed

Cannot at all abide with this comment for the R22. In casting my mind back I can think of one where it is still being debated, another where it definitely was a forward flex plate failure and ignited before touchdown. I cannot recall any where an R22 aircraft has arrived still with blades in such condition. In fact their fuel tank integrity in a write off is usually very high, fuel leakage occurring from broken carburetor and or the line from the airframe filter onwards only.

most definitely..

tet:
What signs would you expect to see?

What to think about this one few months ago ? (fortunately with a much more happy ending) : BBC News - Two injured in helicopter crash near Lake Vyrnwy, Powys
.

Yes, an acute bend upwards at around up to one third the distance along the blade from the inboard end, caused by blade structure being unable to cope with drag vector in the stalled and rapidly descending mode (induced by no lift). Like breaking your elbow the wrong way, it will go with a snap. The Robinson safety course has a terrible video of this event in a R44. The blades stop rotating very quickly and if at altitude fold upwards as aircraft descends vertically. Pundits suggest anything below 82 to 85 % RRPM is liable to fail as such.This is why the collective must be monitored at all times as the primary control.

Heli Henri's picture is reasonably symbolic.but could have been from vertical downward forces.

The symptoms you've described are a consequence of too low RRPM, not necessarily over-pitching (which agreed, could cause too low RRPM). The pilot could have over-pitched, but that wouldn't necessarily result in catastrophic failure of the MR blades.

Very true, however when the ground is looming they are often seen as coupled,
but as I explained above
.

Perhaps I could have said;- "not yet failed because of over pitching." which gives a thoroughly good indication R of D at that time.He may well have been forced into that situation had he no room in front, no drive to the M/R and run out of forward airspeed at an uncomfortable height?
R of D of course increases without effective recovery, like the back end of a J curve until stall occurs where almost simultaneously one might expect the blade failure and then the R of D to resemble a mach number.

Mustering pilots over pitch every second hour of the day sometimes, they like everyone are supposed to be taught to recognize and recover from it before catastrophic low RRPM. Most stagger away recovering, a rare few continue to manage the situation (recalcitrant cows) in hand as well as recovering.
cheers tet

(making circles - > photo flight?, copied from the newspaper website comments)

Hmm so and explanation could be

Slow low level right orbits, heavy - classic LTE / Over Pitching Scenario

I reckon you have it absolutely right anti-talk - the compacted skids and intact blades are symptomatic of a very heavy but vertical impact with low Nr.

Right hand orbits and door on for photo flights?

If it was "proper photography", you might at least expect LH orbit and/or door off

Hard to be certain but the smoke suggests they were possibly downwind too.

Initial NTSB report

NTSB Identification: CEN12FA621
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, September 10, 2012 in Houston, TX
Aircraft: ROBINSON HELICOPTER R22 BETA, registration: N281RG
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On September 10, 2012, at 1545 central daylight time, N281RG, a Robinson R22 Beta, was substantially damaged when it impacted a dirt service road in a steel pipe storage yard in Houston, Texas. The commercial pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Helicopter Services, Incorporated, Spring, Texas. No flight plan was filed for the aerial photo flight that departed Baytown Airport (HPY), Baytown, Texas, approximately 1345. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulation Part 91.

The helicopter departed David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH), Houston, Texas, about 1300, and flew to Baytown where the pilot purchased 22.9 gallons of fuel at 1329. Around 1345, the pilot and the passenger departed and were observed about two hours later by several witnesses maneuvering over the steel pipe yard in south-east Houston.

A witness was driving west on Highway 90 toward the beltway when he first observed the helicopter. He said it was about a mile away and at first he thought it was a remote controlled helicopter. The witness said the helicopter was “way up there” and estimated that is was approximately 400-500 feet above the ground. The helicopter was spinning slowly around the main rotor shaft and was descending straight down vertically about 70-80 miles per hour. There was no smoke or parts coming off the helicopter as it descended. The main rotor blades were turning "slower than expected" and were not deflected upwards. The tail rotor did not appear to be turning. The helicopter then impacted the ground resulting in a large dust cloud. The witness stopped his vehicle and proceeded to run towards to the helicopter. After he negotiated a chain link fence, he and another witness used fire extinguishers to contain the post-impact fire until the fire department arrived.

Another witness was driving east on Highway 90 toward the Beltway when he first observed the helicopter about a mile away. It was 70 to 100 feet-above the ground and was slowly spinning counter clockwise around the main rotor shaft and was in a slow vertical descent. It seemed like it was in “slow-motion.” When the helicopter was approximately 40 to 50 feet above the ground, its descent rate increased rapidly before it impacted the ground. The witness thought the pilot was trying to land and he did not observe any smoke coming from the helicopter. He noted that the main rotor blades were turning “pretty slow” and it seemed “like he lost power.” The body of the helicopter was level and the main rotor blades were not deflected upwards. The witness could not hear the helicopter prior to the impact, which occurred just as he was stepping out of his vehicle. After the impact, he observed a large dust plume as he was running to the steel yard. As he was trying to crawl under a chain link fence he saw a fireball coming from the helicopter. He and another responder used fire extinguishers to contain the post-impact fire until the fire department arrived.

The helicopter came to rest upright on a heading of 195 degrees magnetic on a dirt road located in the steel pipe storage yard. The entire helicopter was accounted for at the site and the fuselage was consumed by post-impact fire. The skids were spread and level with the belly of the fuselage. The body of the helicopter was listed to the right. The helicopter was moved to a secure storage facility for further examination.

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate for rotorcraft-helicopter. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) First Class medical was issued on December 16, 2011. The pilot had applied to attend the Robinson Pilot Safety Course a week before the accident. According to his application, he reported a total of 740 hours, of which 600 hours were in the R22B.

Weather reported at Ellington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, approximately 16 miles southwest of the accident site, at 1550, was wind 130 degrees at 8 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 8,000 feet, temperature 93 degrees F, dewpoint 62 degrees F, and an altimeter setting of 30.02 inches HG.

Index for Sep2012 | Index of months

I don't attach a huge amount of value to uneducated witness statements and I don't like jumping to conclusions, but this has all the hallmarks of VRS, particularly if on a low 'n' slow 'aerial photo flight'..?