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AW139 Crash in Bahamas - 7 Killed
Sad to see - met Chris Cline a few times and Geoff Painter who was flying the AW139 was a gentleman. Going to miss the chats.
AW139 Crash Coal baron Cline among seven dead in Bahamas helicopter crash: media (Reuters) - Coal tycoon and self-made billionaire Christopher Cline, 61, was among seven people who died in a helicopter crash on Thursday in the Bahamas, the Register-Herald of West Virginia reported, citing friends of Cline. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice confirmed Cline’s death on Twitter but offered no details on how it happened. “Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire - Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man,” Justice said. “Cathy and I are praying for his family and all those involved in this tragedy,” Justice said. Cline died the day before his 62nd birthday and was a native of Beckley, West Virgina. Among those killed was also one of Cline’s daughters, the Register-Herald said, citing unnamed friends of Cline. The helicopter went down shortly after takeoff in the Atlantic Ocean early Thursday near Walker’s Cay, the northernmost island in the Bahamas, BNO News said, citing unspecified U.S. and Bahamian officials. The helicopter was headed for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the Palm Beach post reported, citing Bahamian Air Accident Investigation Department’s chief investigator, Delvin Major. Cline resides in Seminole Landing, Florida, near North Palm Beach, the newspaper reported. Neither Major, nor a representative with the Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation were available early Friday for comment. A submerged helicopter with seven aboard had been found near Walker’s Cay, the Register-Herald said, citing Nassau authorities. Forbes listed Cline number 1,281 on its billionaires list with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion, listing him as self-made. Cline started working in the coal mines at age 15 and later dropped out of Marshall University, Forbes said. A major business breakthrough came in the early 2000s when he bought up high-sulfur coal reserves in Illinois, gambling that improved technology would make it more economical to burn dirty fuel, Forbes said. Cline took coal mining firm Foresight Energy (FELP.N) public in 2014, and sold a controlling stake in 2015 for $1.4 billion cash. Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Rich McKay; Editing by Michael Perry and Himani Sarkar |
Sad loss of lives, and it may therefore not matter much in this respect, but is that really an AW139 in the picture here?
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/226803 Is it not an AW119? |
No, that's an unrelated file photo. Typical lack of editorial oversight in media reporting.
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Ned, you mention one pilot, would this not normally be a 2 pilot operation? Helicopter appears to be ex London Air Services in Canada.
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One of the links states a 2 am departure from the Bahamas - night over water shouldn't be an issue with a 139 even OEI.
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Yeah, and another report says it was a 2pm departure, and it was first reported missing at 6pm, and was found 2 hours later. The bodies were recovered at 1am.
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Originally Posted by KiwiNedNZ
(Post 10510078)
Sad to see - met Chris Cline a few times and Geoff Painter who was flying the AW139 was a gentleman. Going to miss the chats.
AW139 Crash |
As mentioned earlier this IS NOT the helicopter referred to in this thread nor is it an AW139!
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Originally Posted by nomorehelosforme
(Post 10510480)
As mentioned earlier this IS NOT the helicopter referred to in this thread nor is it an AW139!
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Tragic. If that was Geoff Painter of Cloud9Helis, I think he was a PPRuNer. :sad:
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Tottigol - My info is accurate - have known Geoff for a long time. Was chatting with him only a couple of days ago. He is the primary pilot for Chris on the 139. I am pretty sure its a 2 person crew and have no idea who the other crew was.
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I got the sad news last night from one of his ex instructors. RIP Geoff!
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Originally Posted by ShyTorque
(Post 10510533)
Tragic. If that was Geoff Painter of Cloud9Helis, I think he was a PPRuNer. :sad:
Originally Posted by anti-talk
(Post 6799195)
OK guys my turn to wade in here
Cloud 9 Helicopters is C9H NOT CNH!! CNH12 is NOT an employee of Cloud 9 Helicopters but clearly it is someone with a concern about Ocean Helicopters. I am not throwing stones in glass houses I know better than that. I hope that clarifies my position and that of Cloud 9 Helicopters in this situation. Geoff Painter - President Cloud 9 Helicopters LLC |
Very sad to hear this if it was Geoff Painter. |
Havick - It was, if you are friends with him on facebook there are numerous tributes :(
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Originally Posted by nomorehelosforme
(Post 10510236)
Ned, you mention one pilot, would this not normally be a 2 pilot operation? Helicopter appears to be ex London Air Services in Canada.
Cline pilot remembered following fatal crashBy Jeff Jenkins in News | July 05, 2019 at 2:38PM
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — David Jude was a good golfer but a better person. That’s what West Virginia Golf Association Executive Director Brad Ullman said about Jude Friday less than a day after hearing about the Kermit native’s death in the helicopter crash that also claimed the life Jude’s friend coal magnate Chris Cline. Jude was Cline’s pilot. When he was not in the air he was usually on the golf course. Ullman said Jude was a great friend of the WVGA for many years.“This is just terrible news. When we received the news late last night it really hurt,” Ullman said. Ullman said he recently witnessed Jude help a younger golfer, an example of the kind of character he possessed. “There was a young player that was recently at an event that had some trouble getting his cart fee taken care of just because lack of work and things like that and he’s (Jude) like, ‘Ya know what buddy, I’ll get you taken care of. You just go out there and have a good day and play well.’ He was always thinking of others and very passionate about the game and its principles. I think that’s what we’ll miss most with the loss of Mr. Jude,” Ullman said. Jude was a good golfer. He recently qualified and played in the West Virginia Open. When he wasn’t playing he was on the bag for his son Davey, Ullman said. He said Jude will be sorely missed at the WVGA’s Parent-Child Championship scheduled to take place in a few weeks at Glade Springs. “Mr. Jude and his son Davey have won it before and they’ve been fixtures around that event for many years. There will definitely something missing there in a couple of weeks when we have that event,” Ullman said. There was no word Friday afternoon on what caused the early Thursday morning crash two miles off the coast of the Bahamas. The helicopter was found hours later when the traveling party didn’t arrive in Fort Lauderdale. There were seven victims including Cline, Jude and Cline’s daughter Kameron. The victim’s list also has not been officially released. From Forbes: The pilot is believed to have been Geoff Painter, who co-owns Cloud 9 Aviation with David Jude, a longtime friend and business partner, who was confirmed with Cline's attorney to have been onboard. Commenters on on the Professional Pilots Rumor Network bulletin board expressed certainty that Painter was piloting the craft. Messages left for Cloud 9 and Painter were not immediately returned. https://www.forbes.com/sites/christo.../#4218e8d46d96 |
Night VFR may be banned, but it certainly does not stop anyone down there from flying at night. Transponder OFF, and done.
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How would their arrival in the US have worked, surely there would need to be an immigration clearance?
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I don’t know about helicopters, but are the landing gear supposed to be down after takeoff? |
Originally Posted by FIRESYSOK
(Post 10510862)
I don’t know about helicopters, but are the landing gear supposed to be down after takeoff? |
All the bells and whistles and 2 pilots and it looks like they hit at very high speed and at a very steep angle. Very very sad.
What was that aircraft equpped with that will help out investigators. |
A telling photo would be of the back-end, see if the tail rotor is still in place. Nothing much to conclude from the wheels being down, reports suggest it was found in the water not far from departure point. No floats installed in this one, right? I don't see the MGB or any MR hub/blades, I doubt it separated in-flight as the hull damage is too minimal.
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Originally Posted by gulliBell
(Post 10510877)
A telling photo would be of the back-end, see if the tail rotor is still in place. Nothing much to conclude from the wheels being down, reports suggest it was found in the water not far from departure point. No floats installed in this one, right? I don't see the MGB or any MR hub/blades, I doubt it separated in-flight as the hull damage is too minimal.
It left London Air with floats and the photo above on the ramp after getting N registered shows floats, so unless they were recently removed they should still be on there. It looks to me like it is resting on the MR Head, with MGB in place and I can see the #2 engine as well. FDR will tell the story. |
If it's thrown a TR blade it would end up in the water...it's happened before.
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Originally Posted by gulliBell
(Post 10510911)
If it's thrown a TR blade it would end up in the water...it's happened before.
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Well the tail rotor is obviously not there, neither is the tail boom. With all the damage upstairs I wonder if it's gone in upside down? Inverted, submerged, at night: that's a tough scenario to escape from.
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If earlier comments prove to be correct, 2.00AM flight, transponder off, no flight logged etc Will this become yet another example of pilot/pilots being pressured to take a flight by the big boss that really shouldn’t have been taken? |
But regardless of rules surely a night flight across water with no objects to bump into should be safe in s 139 ??? I don’t think having transponder on would have made a difference... |
Were both pilots IFR rated? Either pilot ex military?
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Originally Posted by nigelh
(Post 10511191)
But regardless of rules surely a night flight across water with no objects to bump into should be safe in s 139 ??? I don’t think having transponder on would have made a difference... |
2am - right at the bottom of the circadian low - perhaps an urgency to the flight if the report of an illness is correct, 2 pilots with perhaps no exposure to EMS/SAR decision making/risk assessment procedures and a fatal crash very soon after take-off.
It is too easy to join the dots but unless a mechanical failure can be proven, this could turn out to be another very avoidable accident. |
Can’t believe a billionaire would not have IFR pilots on his 139 ..... |
Can't believe a billionaire would take the floats off his helicopter (if that is what happened).
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For all of that structural damage....it was not a soft impact.
Question for the 139 drivers.....How are the floats actuated on the 139? Any Saltwater switches or Float Valve Switches that will trigger the floats automatically....if the system is armed? Are there indications in the photos that give a clue as to whether the floats inflated or not? |
Originally Posted by KiwiNedNZ
(Post 10510627)
Tottigol - My info is accurate - have known Geoff for a long time. Was chatting with him only a couple of days ago. He is the primary pilot for Chris on the 139. I am pretty sure its a 2 person crew and have no idea who the other crew was.
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Originally Posted by SASless
(Post 10511277)
For all of that structural damage....it was not a soft impact.
Question for the 139 drivers.....How are the floats actuated on the 139? Any Saltwater switches or Float Valve Switches that will trigger the floats automatically....if the system is armed? Are there indications in the photos that give a clue as to whether the floats inflated or not? I see nothing in these photos to indicate any float inflation. The Fwd bags are housed below the cockpit doors & the Aft bags below the baggage bay. I'm aware that some operations discourage arming floats on the AW139 during cruise .... despite the RFM calling for this .... just saying. |
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