Crispin LA Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 Anyone notice the similarities between the Vichai helicopter crash and the crash of American coal tycoon Chris Cline helicopter which killed all 7 on board this month. Both helicopters were AugustaWestland, while in the case of Vichai's it was a AW169 and Cline's it was AW139 model. The helicopter carrying Cline and his passengers crashed within a minute of take off, spun out of control and fell into the sea, while taking off from his personal island. It seems that they may have been issues with the tail rotor be both cases.
Heymister2015 Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 why havent we heard anymore since the helicopter went for review? something to cover up?
LC/FC Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 Wasn't some mechanical part in the rotor of that heli meant to be flawed? Remember reading some stuff about it being dangerous if not maintained properly.
jeffschlupp Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 15 minutes ago, Heymister2015 said: why havent we heard anymore since the helicopter went for review? something to cover up? The AAIB have already done one report about the likely tail rotor failure, that was published last December. The full investigation will be concluded later this year IIRC.
Tuna Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 Bad memories seeing a thread titled this suddenly appear.
Ashley Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 A friend of mine was an aviation mechanic, he said if the general public understood how Helicopters functioned youd never get in one. One tiny thing goes wrong and you're buggered. Hate the things now.
Wymsey Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 Perhaps it best to wait and see what the investigation into the American tradegy mentioned above concludes from actual qualified investigators. You may well be correct regarding your assumption regarding a fault with the tail rotor linked to the LCFC incident, but there could have been various other reasons that caused this incident.
promised land Posted 27 July 2019 Posted 27 July 2019 21 minutes ago, Ashley said: A friend of mine was an aviation mechanic, he said if the general public understood how Helicopters functioned youd never get in one. One tiny thing goes wrong and you're buggered. You don't need to be an aviation mechanic to understand basic physics of a helicopter, accidents are very rare for the amount that are up there at any given time, however unlike a fixed wing aircraft, there is very little in the form of glide for a rotary in the event of a malfunction. Some do have better results, Mike Smith, Sarah Greene for eg, but most like we know don't. Add on, you can buy a second hand Robinson R22 for not much more than a new decent family saloon (BMW, Audi), which makes the whole flying in one seem even more bizarre to me, I wouldn't go up in a new multi million pound one, let alone a 35 year old 2 seat gold fish bowl one. Experienced pilot or not, it's out of their hands when things go wrong.
Leeds Fox Posted 30 July 2019 Posted 30 July 2019 On 27/07/2019 at 19:49, Ashley said: A friend of mine was an aviation mechanic, he said if the general public understood how Helicopters functioned youd never get in one. One tiny thing goes wrong and you're buggered. Hate the things now. When you’re relying on two rotors keeping you in the air, where a single failure will result in the downing of the aircraft, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of thought to realise the dangers. Even a rear rotor stall could have terrible consequences. Like anything mechanical, failure/malfunction is always a risk. The fact is, unless it’s brought to their attention, the ‘general public’ are ignorant to the risk out of choice. A few of my close friends are aircraft mechanics, on rotary and fixed wing. Even after our tragedy, they say that (obviously without knowing the finer details) these things happen and it can be unavoidable in some cases. However they maintain that it’s still a mode of transport that is one of the safest around but when something does go wrong, it’s big news. I must say none of that is in reference to our late chairman and means no disrespect to him or the others onboard, just about aviation in general.
Saxondale Posted 31 July 2019 Posted 31 July 2019 The specific failure that occured on Vichai's helicopter may have been recoverable had they had altitude and/or airspeed. It was the worst possible time for it to fail. Contrary to what many people believe, helicopters won't always just drop out the sky if the rotors fail. For instance, if you have enough forward airspeed, the main rotors will continue to turn without power (autorotation), creating enough lift to facilitate a controlled descent.
Wymsey Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/helicopter-crash-pilot-just-returned-3173124
StanSP Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 2 hours ago, Wymeswold fox said: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/helicopter-crash-pilot-just-returned-3173124 Brings back so many bad memories The silver lining obviously, though, being that thankfully no-one was injured in this crash.
stripeyfox Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 fcuk helicopters man. They fly by some kind of magic that I don't understand. Missus wanted us to take a helicopter flight round Manhattan last year.... Nope, not for me.
weller54 Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 21 minutes ago, stripeyfox said: fcuk helicopters man. They fly by some kind of magic that I don't understand. Missus wanted us to take a helicopter flight round Manhattan last year.... Nope, not for me. Did you suggest she went on her own?
Guy Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 I'd never get in one, especially after what happened to Vichai - and with that latest mentioned one. I don't suppose Top does anymore either....
FoyleFox Posted 4 August 2019 Posted 4 August 2019 6 hours ago, Wymeswold fox said: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/helicopter-crash-pilot-just-returned-3173124 Christ, I know all of those people. Thank God everyone's alright.
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