PPRuNe Forums - Aug 1. 2017: MD Explorer crashed in the austrian alps

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Aug 1. 2017: MD Explorer crashed in the austrian alps

A MD902 crashed after takeoff from a alpin hut ( 11200ft ) near Grossglockner summit. The crew and patient received no or light injuries.
Hubschrauber kippt auf Glockner um - tirol.ORF.at

skadi

Hubschrauber kippt auf Glockner um - tirol.ORF.at
google translated.

Quote:

Helicopter tilts to Glockner

A dramatic incident took place on Tuesday evening on the Großglockner. A rescue helicopter, which wanted to fly a patient from a shelter to the hospital, tipped to the side after the start.

The accident occurred at 8:15 pm in the Großglockner area. The rescue helicopter Martin 4 from the base Matrei in Osttirol had a 48-year-old mountaineer, who had complained about heart problems, at the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte.

Alpine police ensure traces
At the start the machine was caught by a strong gust of wind. According to the pilot, the blast pushed the helicopter down, then tipped over, said Roy Knaus, Flight Operations Manager and owner of the helicopter fleet, against the ORF: "First the runners touched the ground, then the machine has tipped over and then has The rotor touches the ground. "

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...n3.5637271.jpg
The crash occurred near the Archduke Johann Hut

On Wednesday morning, the alpine police were still busy with tracking. During the day the flight accident commission would arrive, according to Knaus.

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...n2.5637270.jpg

Doctor suffered nasal bone fracture
The pilot and aircreppers were able to free themselves from the helicopter after the incident, they remained uninjured. The emergency physician suffered a nosebone fracture. The 48-year-old patient from Germany was also reportedly hurt by the police. He was flown to Lienz hospital with another rescue helicopter.

Having landed at the same spot in an Alouette 3 a few years ago, + you can also probably see from the top pic, that this could have been so much worse an outcome.

I like the term "aircrepper". I bet they were crepping themselves when this happened!

Is there a bone in the nose?
And why was there Police brutality against the patient after the event? Shame on them.
I would have preferred to remain uninjured after the incident myself .

@thomas this is a more accurate translation:
"The 48-year-old patient from Germany was also hurt according to the police"

and aircrepper should be something like airborne paramedic

Wiedhopf - I'm sorry "wit" (even badly presented) is a very British trait, for good or bad. Ask the Yanks.

I apologise.:rolleyes:

@thomas don't sweat it i got the humour :)

somehow i lost sight of it though in the bad translation and had to provide a better one, it's the internet after all!

A VERY LUCKY CREW

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...i4.5637274.jpg
Michael Umschaden, Pilot und Stützpunktleiter des ÖAMTC-Rettungshubschraubers C11 in Klagenfurt sagt, als Pilot habe man in solchen Situationen nur begrenzte Möglichkeiten zu reagieren: „Konstanter Wind hilft beim Flug, plötzliche Windböen, die vor allem in den Bergen auftreten, sind aber schwer einzuschätzen.“ Deswegen würde der C11 bei hochalpinen Einsätzen auf das Nötigste geleert, um mehr Leistung zu haben.

Michael left the handbrake off.

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...i6.5637320.jpg
Der Unfall am Dienstagabend war nicht der erste der Firma Knaus. Firmeninhaber Roy Knaus verlor seinen Vater im Jahr 1997 bei einem Hubschrauberabsturz - mehr dazu in Immer wieder Unfälle in Firmengeschichte Knaus (tirol.ORF.at, 29.4.2012). Bestätigt wurde mittlerweile, dass der Pilot, der am Dienstagabend am Glockner unterwegs war, 2012 in Tirol an einem tödlichen Unfall beteiligt war. Damals war er am Großvenediger in eine Nebelbank geraten, drei Männer am Seil klinkte er deswegen aus, einer davon starb beim Aufprall auf den Gletscher

Luckily some walkers found it at the bottom of this gulley and called the AA.

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...i1.5637277.jpg
Der Absturz eines Rettungshubschraubers am Dienstagabend am Großglockner beschäftigt nun die Flugunfallkommission. Der Flugbetreiber Knaus schließt ein technisches Gebrechen aus. Ein Amateurfilmer filmte den Absturz mit.

The front bumper was damaged but otherwise it was repairable.

http://oekastatic.orf.at/static/imag...i5.5637309.jpg
Knapp rechts unter der Hütte stürzte der Rettungshubschrauber ab, nur wenige Meter davon entfernt befindet sich eine steil abfallende Felswand.

It was towed to the nearest garage at the top of the hill.

What was a NOTAR doing up there such conditions in the first place?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoinix (Post 9850060)

What was a NOTAR doing up there such conditions in the first place?

Do you have more information about performance at altitude regarding NOTAR?
Don´t have a rating on MD, only heard someting about coanda-effect with air travelling along the tailboom i.e. - which might give problems in gusty conditions.
Watching the video I saw a helicopter, which was still light on the skids, when the PAX-pic up started...
And a pilot, who tried to continue to hover, when either a firmer contact with the ground - or a progressive effort to fly away, would have been a better way - thats what I think

Good to hear everyone is OK for the most part! Any idea what the aircraft registration number is?

In the newspaper article it says:

Quote:

When the helicopter wanted to take off with the patient on board, problems arose. According to the pilot, a violent gust of wind pushed the helicopter down again

In the video I see a helicopter making an approach and not a departure.

In the video I see an inversion layer and dust slowly moving away after the crash but I don't see any indications for violent gusts.

What I do see is a helicopter pilot having problems finding a solid stand on the gravel.

The video contradicts the pilot's testimony.
At over 11000 feet he ran out of left pedal on lose and slopy ground, probably paired with a bit of spacial disorientation losing reference looking down the mountain.

If the weather was anything like 70 km SE, we had 20ºC and winds 14, gusting 25 kts @7.000ft PA.

902 FLM:

The Johann hut - is 3.454 m ASL - about 11.300 feet....
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzher...ann-H%C3%BCtte
With the chart given - the gusts may well have exceded the demonstrated limits.....

Looks like the wind was blowing from the valley, i.e. left crosswind at first. However the pilot never put it down on solid ground but hovering around. When he turns further right, he gets himself into tail wind, which pushes him further right (weather cock effect) and this is where it gets out of control. I'd say this is pretty much textbook LTE.

Ground handler sure got lucky.

Can NOTAR suffer LTE given the jet of air is pushed out of the tail boom?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeNYC (Post 9850290)

Ground handler sure got lucky.

Small correction: Stellar performance of Guardian Angels of ALL involved. :ok:

They all should celebrate an additional birthday from now on.
What I saw in the vid is pretty much how I would define close call... :eek: