Yeah, on closer observation, there is no traditional rotor. The question stands, though - did the pilot lose directional stability due to mechanical failure or pilot error. . .
Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher
Posts: 21838 | Location: Hobbiton, The Shire, Middle Earth | Registered: September 27, 2004
From what I'm reading, that NOTAR system, while quieter, lacks the power of a traditional exposed tail rotor. In thin air, the aircraft would more easily experience loss of tail rotor authority. Maybe the only pilot error was that he was flying that type of heli there at all.
He may have been a pretty whizbang driver, actually. I'm guessing that when the bird started auguring toward blue sky, he had a split-second decision to try and recover the flight or set it into the side of the mountain as quickly and gently as possible. He may have saved lives, though not the craft, by doing what he did.
It appears the pilot started losing control as soon as the injured hiker was loaded on board. Maybe the additional weight caused the aircraft to become imbalanced and things cascaded from there.
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ
Posts: 4929 | Location: Highland, UT | Registered: September 14, 2006
Put a watermellon on the floor, then a 4x4 sheet of plywood, then a skateboard, and while performing ballet dance moves, have a drunk freind hop on your skateboard.
Yeah, it works a lot like that.
Was on a UH-1N and had someone "board" during about a 2 foot hover and even in a nice calm day, nowhere near gross, and proper weight and balance, we really got the rock on.
The AC was not a happy camper and uttered some military "Wartime Use Only" phraseology.
"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
Posts: 43859 | Location: ...... I am thrice divorced, and I live in a van DOWN BY THE RIVER!!! (in Arkansas) | Registered: December 20, 2008
That looks like A-Star country to me. Lots of passenger seat time in helos, and for 20 years now, most high-elevation work for SAR and FF in both the Forest Service and NPS has been contracted to companies who fly A-Stars (now Airbus H-125).
Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of Bell Helicopters out there under contract, but if the work includes high-elevation SAR and FF...A-Star
_______________________________________________________ despite them
Posts: 13225 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008
There was an Air Force search & rescue Blackhawk that crashed on Mt. Hood a while back. Similar, and no fatalities here either (a couple of the climbers they were trying to pick up had already died, but nobody was killed in the crash).
