Flying Bull Cobra landing went wrong
 

The Bell Cobra of the austrian Flying Bull team was destroyed when the main rotor struck a roof after landing for refuelling on a small airfield in Austria. The well known pilot was lucky, he had already left the helicopter.

http://www.tt.com/home/13023887-91/h...unverletzt.csp

skadi

The report linked above said the accident happened after the pilot left the cockpit - not the case according to the emerging video footage...
Tyrol seems to see a spike in helicopter accidents this month - at least nobody got hurt in this one.

Mmh, it was obviously flown into the building

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3f1_...5sqB5AO3pwO.03

skadi

Maybe its the angle of the video....or the quality..but that looks like a beginner trying to land and hover it....of course difficult to say......

Sigfried "Blacky" Schwarz flew the aircraft (chief pilot of the helicopter division of the flying bulls) who's highly experienced. I can't imagine him just flying it into the building trying to park next to the fuel pump. Maybe part of the roof or some sort of canopy over the pumps was dislogded by the downwash and touched the blades. Or maybe he just made a mistake....

A truly embarrassing moment for Austrias' top dog. Red Bull is trying its best to put a good spin on the story and distance Mr. Blacky from the mishap. First they claim the pilot was already outside the cockpit when the blades struck the building, once the video surfaced the narrative was changed to "the skids were already on the ground when a gust of wind pushed the helicopter towards the building"!

Would it be so unimaginable that a pilot of this excellence and skill could simply have misjudge the distance to the building?

No gust of wind, no extraneous influence - that is just a f*ckup.

Why? if he is flying from RHS then cross-cockpit judgement of distance would be tricky. If from LHS then no excuse.

Don't they have ground marshallers?

Tricky to do either in a Cobra!

Watching the video it sounds like the blades initially just clip the building before part of it comes loose and it all goes south quickly.

Looks as though contact was made as the Cobra was descending with its blades above the building.

Crab. Not sure a Cobra has left or right seats, is it not a more warry type with front and back!

This video is from the first post link.
Lucky cameraman.

http://www.tt.com/home/13023887-91/h....csp?tab=video

He was flying from the aft of the two seats of the Cobras tandem cockpit...

skadi

Just watched the video, pausing and playing. Looks like he landed a couple of feet clear, light on the skids and slid slowly left towards to building until contact was made.

Pilot mishap IMHO

Sad loss of a rare machine, must be pretty expensive to replace? (if they can get one)

Should have gone to spec-savers.

Was there a press conference,and were the floats armed...?

Pretty basic stuff ,rotor effects near buildings....
Good job he wasn`t flying the Sycamore....

Doh! should have gone to Specsavers! me for missing the aircraft type and the pilot for not missing the building:)

Crab you are partially right:
Cobra was flown sideways,
Pilot looks therefore to be in the left hand seat.
No excuses!
I think the rotorblades were just above the roof. When pitch was reduced the whole thing exploded.

SLB

Never conflate experience with judgement. Some pilots get there by sheer luck alone.

There is NO left hand seat in a Cobra, unless you're standing on the skid and reaching into the cockpit...

The article linked in the first post has been updated with some quotes from the pilot himself directly after the incident. He said "I flew there pretty close, had the heli already on the ground and got out. The blades were spinning down. Then the machine must have been moved a little and the blades touched the roof."
That the Bell is now just a pile of junk is "annoying, but she wasn't worth much. She is really old."

Now he admits "I took back power which causes the rotor to be pushed down. During that it touched a wall. It was really windy, that certainly played some role. Yes, I unfortunately misjudged the situation. It was like a parking accident."
He also said that the Cobra will be repaired and should be serviceable again.

So I guess the first statement was some kind of shock-induced reaction...

I think you're missing the joke here, Thracian ;)

I swear, the helicopter was on the ground and I have already left the cockpit. The blades were coasting down as a gust of wind pushed the helicopter into the building! Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

Not sure why he thinks he can get away with this intentional untruth, there were cameras and cell phones everywhere. Fess up and own it for Pete's sake, after all you're the sky god of Austria!

It's not the first time that a helicopter pilot has failed to realise that because he sits forward of the rotor disc centre, the disc is "wider" than what he can see.

All got it wrong, the building walked into the blades. Builder to blame. Case closed.

Apparently the building will be hosting a press conference tomorrow thanking the people for their awesomeness!

RedBull: Bread and Circus to the People!
 

Another good landing in the FlingWing department .
Press conference in progress.

Reminds me of what the definition of a helicopter is:
10 000 parts flying in tight formation!
Hence def. helicopter accident:
10 000 parts flying in 10 000 different directions!

No , that never gets old!!!

Anyway, no RIP on this one, minus the old lady.
A rather pathetic way to go compared to Nam or Iraq!?

Oh, and RIP to PIC pride!:E

The building is apparently suing the airfield, Bell, the pilot and Lycoming.
Its also been approached about movie rights. Working title to be "A complete Bulls up"

"He also said that the Cobra will be repaired and should be serviceable again".

T Cut check
Speed tape check
Gorilla glue check
Duct tape check
Bailer twine check
Old coke cans check

Ok you maintenance chappies I'll collect it in the morning.

Those blade tips fly a little lower at flat pitch.

I think he fell into old habits.

He flew EMC Helicopters for 21 Years and knows the field very good.
It is possible he was just using the standard position for refueling (for the chopper with the smaller rotor disk).

Interview excerpt:
Sie kennen den Flugplatz in Höfen doch genau?
Ich bin als Notarztpilot für die Christophorus- Flotte öfter dort gelandet. Ich war 21 Jahre bei der Rettungsstaffel und bin insgesamt rund 7000 Einsätze für sie geflogen.

There's piles of room at the airport. Why act like you're the bloke trying to land between an inn and the river in the UK?

The contact lens story is hilarious!

When I first clicked on this thread I expected to see this again:

Hey whoknows idont...what an unbelievable pick-up :yuk: I've had 10hr students perform better :ouch:

Hey Skadi.......that's a bad hair day, or rather hangar rash day :rolleyes: Sheesh looked like a classic trainee approach onto the runway :O

Does that mean he began to approach the landing site having seen the two people with cameras nearby?

Especially when there are loads of spectators close by!

I guess if the guy can afford the Toy he can play with it all he wants....but gee....Cobra's are scarce as Hen's Teeth.....and should not be treated like this one was.

Oops
 

No left or Right seat armchair pilots.

Most of us know what happens to the disc as the collective is lowered!

Lucky spectators.

Just glad it wasn't pilot error 🤓

If he was sitting in a Bo-105 he would have still had 9' of clearance!

Another video:



skadi

I guess you've never flown any firefighting ops, especially a tanked helicopter.