Meanwhile in Russia
 

MI 26 Hard landing

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-control.html
A group of eight people had a miracle escape today when a Mi-26 helicopter crash landed in the far north of Russia.

A preliminary investigation is underway into the crash of the helicopter which was flying in workers from Novy Urengoy to the Rotor 40 site in the Vankor gas field just above the Arctic Circle.

The video shows how the tail touches the snow-covered ground and breaks off, causing the chopper to turn on its side in a huge cloud of snow.

I can't see where the TR touches - it looks more like the tail boom failed at the transportation joint, dropped down and then the TR strikes and all hell breaks loose.

To me, it looks like they just hit the ground hard enough to make the tailboom separate.

Has anybody got another source for the video? I have adblocker so I cannot see it because the Daily Mail won't coin it with my internet address for advertising.

This article was translated poorly to English, I assume from Russian. It seems to imply that they might have been attempting an emergency landing with one engine in-op. If memory serves, that leaves a single 11K SHP engine to slow their descent.

The expert commented on the video of the crash of the Mi 26 on Yamal high vertical speed | KXan 36 Daily News

At 23 seconds it looks like one person gets up from under the snow, fully covered. Maybe just the wind!

The spectators taking the video seemed quite cheerful about it.

Not so much if you understood the language. Although it can be argued that in most of the Slav languages some of the hardest swear words have bubbly sounds. As well, particularly applicable to Russian country folk, the emotions of impeding doom no longer contain the fear element. They've evolved. :E

Can't imagine it takes much to let the ROD get away from you with a beast like that, quite low forward speed, big coning angle, and then suddenly your left armpit is fouling the collective...

I think the pilot was trying to do a zero speed landing as against a run-on which I would think an Mi 26 demands. Maybe there was no alternative but it certainly ran out of ideas as the speed bled off.

Yep, flew that one straight into a hard landing and the tail snapped off under the loading..the only zero/zero was on the controls:ugh:

Easy after the event to slag someone off, but without all the information it's tricky to realise why he didn't do a run on somewhere, perhaps the snow all around prevented it.:{

No, that is some particularly choice swearing!!

Those things are longer and nearly as heavy as a C-130 Herc. Love to see a run-on landing by one but suspect it ain't like a butterfly with sore feet.

Years ago at the Paris Air Show an international group of test pilots were chatting. One if them asked a Russian test pilot how his Mil V12 (the BIG one with twin rotors) was getting on with its civil certification. The answer was that everything was going fine and the only outstanding item was the engines out autorotation and landing.

"You've got four engines and two rotors and you have to dead stick it?"

"Yes, our country has stupid rules too."

Apparently they did it, once, and with great celebration an official signed it up as airworthy.