Seems that some authorities treat multi-million dollar aviation assets like empty boxes of Wheatos...

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=ki1je_1520653795

tac

That pilot sure got out fast didnt he?

Looks like the ground crew didn't pull it to the center of the pad and the other pilot just got complacent with his normal routine.

He should have just put it down over on the taxiway and waited.

Women drivers

"As she lowered the collective to land on pad 2 ...."

Just take the replacement cost out of the dumbass ground crew's paychecks. Problem solved.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
That pilot sure got out fast didnt he?

That was the air support Lt.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Just take the replacement cost out of the dumbass ground crew's paychecks. Problem solved.

I didn't see ground crew directing her to land.

They just launched her 3 minutes earlier expecting her to be on a 1 hour flight.

Launch pad looks a bit too small for two helicopters.

End of the day, she flew her helicopter into another helicopter.

Saw two FBI pilots wreck a pair of MT Army Guard Hueys in exactly the same way. Except the Huey already on the ground still had his rotor turning.

One already on the ground, the second was in a hover to landing and they meshed blades. The results were spectacular....Thankfully (amazingly!) NO one hurt.

A few years later the land owner where this occurred, found a piece of rotor blade up in a tree, maybe 300 yds from the accident.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
That pilot sure got out fast didnt he?

He was standing beside it.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Just take the replacement cost out of the dumbass ground crew's paychecks. Problem solved.

I didn't see ground crew directing her to land.

They just launched her 3 minutes earlier expecting her to be on a 1 hour flight.

Launch pad looks a bit too small for two helicopters.

End of the day, she flew her helicopter into another helicopter.

The ground crew appear not to have put the helicopter on the big yellow helicopter parking square™ (with oil stains from helicopters being parked on it). It appears to be several feet closer to the adjacent pad than it should be. Granted, there is ample blame to go around for the pilot and the ground crew.

Holy shit.

Excessive focus by the pilot on the "parking space" rather than making sure the landing area was clear?

Not a helicopter expert but where the article says "substantial damage" I'm seeing total loss. Of two very nice birds. Shame.

Six year old story.

Hmmm. I guess the blades didn't mesh together like gears after all.

quote:

A few years later the land owner where this occurred, found a piece of rotor blade up in a tree, maybe 300 yds from the accident.

We were on field maneuvers, many years ago, and had a chopper trying to land at night. Rotors churned up a crap load of dust. Pilot lost visibility and the rotor hit a huge pine tree. Cut that tree off, and chopped several pieces of it off.

Chopper did a very hard landing, fell on its side and burst into flame. 2 men on board, both bailed out one made a clean exit but the other fell into a pool of flaming fuel. 2 of the ground crew tried to rescue him, experiencing some bad burns. Their efforts were not successful.

I was on radio duty at the time and had to handle all the comms.

quote:

Both helicopters sustained substantial damage.

This seems like a bit of an understatement to me. 4 million dollars worth of equipment gone in an instant.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:

quote:

Both helicopters sustained substantial damage.

This seems like a bit of an understatement to me. 4 million dollars worth of equipment gone in an instant.

OH-58; military equipment, likely didn't cost the department anything. Retired out of the military, it's operated public use, and in that category isn't required to comply with FAA maintenance regulations, parts procurement, or any other FAA requirement, either. Cost is not what it might be were it a typical civil operation...so millions...no.

The person who wrote the liveleak commentary was off base and had no idea what he was talking about.

It's clear the department's immediate concern was for life, and then to assure the public that services to the public would not be uninterrupted. The liveleak commentator seems to think that the crew or the department owes the public some kind of apology.

Mishaps happen, and no doubt this was addressed in minute detail in-house.

If I am seeing things correctly, that's a hot refueling pad in the right of the video frame. At least it did not go up.

Well, it does say "DANGER" in big yellow and black letters, in two places. Does nobody read the warnings in the instructions anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Just take the replacement cost out of the dumbass ground crew's paychecks. Problem solved.

I didn't see ground crew directing her to land.

They just launched her 3 minutes earlier expecting her to be on a 1 hour flight.

Launch pad looks a bit too small for two helicopters.

End of the day, she flew her helicopter into another helicopter.

The ground crew appear not to have put the helicopter on the big yellow helicopter parking square™ (with oil stains from helicopters being parked on it). It appears to be several feet closer to the adjacent pad than it should be. Granted, there is ample blame to go around for the pilot and the ground crew.

The key here is who has responsibility for the aircraft movement.
There are extenuating circumstances however with the heliport design.
Interesting to note that one corrective action was to remove the boxes.
The incoming pilot was focusing on the box rather than her surroundings.

Had the ground crew been providing direction with aircraft marshaling signals, yes you could blame them, but that was not the case here.

The outgoing pilot had considered water drainage and proximity to the fuel farm when he positioned his helicopter outside the box.

From NTSB report.
"Pilot N96BM

He stated that he had been pushing out N96BM when a call for assistance was requested, as N911FA had already departed he moved N96BM to Pad 1. The pilot stated that he placed the helicopter on the outside of Pad 1; he knew they would be off the ground in a couple of minutes or he would be up on radios. The pilot stated that his thought process was that, when he was up on radios he would check the weather, and request the pilot of N911FA start toward the priority call."

That ground crewman was not only bit by the door & skid support of the helicopter he was standing next to, but when the rotor came off he got hit by that as well. Tough day