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Helicopter crash in Dubai

Hey guys.

This morning, about 0800Z, there was a helicopter crash in Dubai, very close to the Burj Al Arab. Offered 'Dubai Departures' assistance in inspecting the crash site and to look for the wrekage/survivors but could not find it, then vacated the area about 5 minutes later as a rescue helicopter arrived on scene. As we cleared the Dubai and Shajah CTZs and tuned back to Dubai Departures, heard the rescue helicopter saying he was heading for Rashid Hospital.

Now the rumours start....

1. Aparrently the wreckage was found half in the water, half on the beach in front of the hotel, Mina Siyahii (pronounced Meena See-ya-hee), bout a km down the beach from the Burj Al Arab.

2. It was one of the Dubai Royal Flight's helicopters and a local Sheikh was killed (however the Royal Flight helicopters are used to shuttle residents/customers of the Burj Al Arab to and from the airport).

Anybody got any info?

Cheers.

Burj al Arab ..... http://www.thecityreview.com/skyter3.jpg

Heliport

Not a Dubai Air Wing helicopter, no Sheikhs involved and nothing to do with Burj al Arab.
Sharjah Police Air Wing 412 filming, I believe, the start of Dubai-Muscat sailing race. 2 pilots, 1 crewman plus 2 photographers. All survived 2 injured. Not sure of cause.

Thanks for the info mate. Good to hear the crew made it. Staright to the Irish Village me thinks.... :E

Cheers

Ahhh... the Irish Village - the best sim de-briefing room in the industry!!

Help me out here.... Irish Village???!!

Irish Village - owned by the DCA, next to the tennis courts and opposite the avaiation club. A place to relax and unwind. If you go to Dubai, go there. Great hammour and chips. Beer's not bad either.

Local daily has some very interesting pics ubfortunately not avalable in online version. Story below.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/Nat...ticleID=154511

The article states, " A crane lifted the helicopter from the sea and cleared the area in less than an hour."

So much for a crash investigation at the scene, any evidence that might prove useful could easily go un-noticed now that they've stirred up the site. Doesn't say much IMHO about the locals knowledge of crash investigation.

Why would they bother to hold a crash investigation? Inch Allah!!! It happened because it was meant to happen!

Khaleej Times Online report

Quote:

Copter crashes into sea

DUBAI — Five passengers and crew of a police helicopter suffered minor injuries when the aircraft, which was skimming the surface of the water following the power boat races, fell into the sea at around 11:50am, barely 20 feet from the shore at Mina Siyahi.

Two British nationals, a television cameraman and a photographer, sustained minor injuries and fractures. The pilot and helicopter crew, all UAE nationals, sustained minor bruises and abrasions. Two patients were airlifted to Rashid Hospital, while the other three were transferred by ambulance. Hospital sources confirmed that three of the injured would be discharged within 24 hours.

Lt. Colonel Essa Hilal, of the Federal Police Air Wing, UAE Ministry of Interior, speaking to Khaleej Times, said: “It was a forced landing, the helicopter, an Augusta Bell 412, rolled over in the water. The aircraft, which belonged to the Federal Police, UAE Ministry of Interior, was flying at a low altitude at the time.

“The crash occurred at 11:50am and apart from a broken leg, sustained by one of the camera persons, one of the crew members sustained two chipped teeth,” Lt. Col. Hilal added.

Hassan Saeed, the brother of helicopter pilot, Rabee Saeed, said: “They were flying low and suddenly the rotors stopped, my brother took the aircraft to the side and tried to make an emergency landing into the sea to minimise injuries. He sustained only minor injuries, a scratch under his eye and some injuries to his hands.”

John, a witness, who arrived to the crash site later, said he saw the helicopter on its back, in the water, at what he estimates to be around 20 feet from the shore: “I heard that one of the skids hit the water and the aircraft crashed and flipped over. When I arrived the helicopter was upside down in the water and there were ambulances and police cars everywhere.”

Relatives of the injured could be seen anxiously waiting in the emergency room of the Rashid Hospital. Journalists were barred from speaking to the victims and photographers were not allowed to take pictures.

Salah M., brother-in-law of Rabee Saeed, the pilot of the helicopter, told Khaleej Times that he was shocked to hear the news of the crash: “I was speaking to my wife when she told me that Rabee had fallen. I thought he had fallen from the stairs or something but could never fathom that his copter had crashed in the water.

“By God’s mercy he has escaped with only a few stitches on his hand and a few injuries under his eye. Hopefully he should be back home in the next day or so,” Salah added.

According to Lt. Col. Hilal, the Dubai Police arrived at the site of the accident within a few minutes of the incident and emergency personnel were deployed to help the injured. “A committee will be formed to investigate further the cause of this accident and hopefully by then we should have more information,” he said.

Irish Villiage = Great place to fall over!

Flyboyben. That made me LOL. :ok:

Quote:

...the aircraft, which was skimming the surface of the water following the power boat races, fell into the sea at around 11:50am, barely 20 feet from the shore at Mina Siyahi....

Interesting description that. How does one "fall into the sea" while skimming on the surface of the water??

and another.....

Quote:

...They were flying low and suddenly the rotors stopped, my brother took the aircraft to the side and tried to make an emergency landing into the sea to minimise injuries.......

Mast bearing seizure???? Or maybe Chinese Whisper syndrome? Rather difficult to control a helicopter when the rotors suddenly stop...........

Remember where the accident happened, and who was flying the aircraft!!!

Mistakes are not made here so the rotors must have "suddenly stopped" !!!!????? - Can't possibly be any other explanation.:ok:

Was the cameraman shooting hand held out the side or did they have a stabilised camera?

Any sign of a ball in the pics?

mickjoebill

Picture of the Helicopter on the beach after it was removed from the sea.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...ihelicrash.jpg

When the blades hit the water they will "suddenly stop".
Oh well, the locals and their attitude are an accident waiting to happen (generalising)..

I was about 100 yards from the accident on one of the boats when it happened and had a fantastic view. one of my crew mates shouted 's**t, hes bloody low!'

we all watched the chopper making wake with its skids for a GOOD 10 seconds no more than a foot or 2 off the water doing approx 60 to 80 knots. to me, and the other pilots there seemed to be nothing wrong, and the pilot was asking for trouble. he made a right turn, caught the front of his right skid in the water and the chopper corkscrewed into the water.

according to friends of my crew who were onboard the chopper, the crew made no warning of the approaching accident as all appeared well, apart from the fact he was doing 80 kts 1 foot above the water!

these guys fly like this all the time. whenever your at the beach they pass over the masts of the boats at the nearby sailing clubs by no more than a couple of feet.

i dont know all the facts, but that is what i saw and see on a regular basis. the chopper also crashed in 8 ft of water off the one and only royal mirage beach. there was live feed at DIMC, (dubai international marine club) and it was being recorded from the chopper when it went down. again, people watching saw the chopper skimming the water for ages before all of a sudden losing feed.

cheers

DB :ok:

Yep! That would stop the rotors suddenly !!

I could go on and on about this one having spent over 10 years out there.
Lets put it this way for those of you that have not been in the middle East,the way it works is that a local can't do wrong,there must be some other reason why things go wrong no matter how obviously made up the excuse is,and if there is a non local to blame then even better.
The phots guys are very lucky the story wasn't,'' the photographer went crazy and grabbed the cylic.''.
No I am not joking!
Easy then to throw him in gaol then get him to admit it to get himself out.
When I was out there a local female doctor wrote off an expat father and his two kids on a crossing.
She said she had been to a yoga class and was in a trance,so they through the Philipino yoga intructor in gaol!
I was offshore years ago when Dubai atc phoned me and asked me to go to a position 45 miles further offshore (I was already 65 miles offshore).
They stated that a UAE military 412 that was flying from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (A coastal route) had called stating he was running out of fuel.
When they asked him to ident,he was 80 nm offshore!
I took off but about 10 minutes into my flight a C130 found the wreckage and bodies,there wasn't much left.
So apart from the first major ------ up instead of hovering into the water after dropping his 11 passengers off in the life raft,he waited untill both engines failed and flew into the sea at high speed.
The inquest result came out a week later and a senior airforce commander stated that the cause of the accident was that his magnetic compass was missreading.
There does not need to be an inquest on this one,I have done about 30 power boat races in Dubai over the years and have whitnessed the standard of flying these guys display.
Lack of ability,common sense,macho attitude and showing off.
He flew into the water,absolutely no doubt whatsoever.

I rest my case.