New Mexico Phi crash video released

Glad everyone walked away from that one.

but couldn't have crashed at a better place than on top of a hospital!
 
Looks like an anti torque failure and an incredible job by the pilot. While that roof looks big, they truly are not - going off the side of the building the outcome would have been very different for the crew and the people on the ground.
 
Glad everyone is okay. On a side note, do those water sprayers automatically deploy or manually deployed by someone that must have saw it?
 
I_Money said:
Looks like an anti torque failure and an incredible job by the pilot. While that roof looks big, they truly are not - going off the side of the building the outcome would have been very different for the crew and the people on the ground.
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Does that mean tail rotor?
 
skypilot6 said:
Glad everyone walked away from that one.

but couldn't have crashed at a better place than on top of a hospital!
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You'd think, but it's actually worse. They were lucky in this case. Access is a major problem had extrication been required. Time wouldn't have been on their side had the fire been worse along with an extrication situation. And the pad fire system is designed for being on the pad. It helped in this case, but there were alot of factors that went the crew's way in terms of survivability, that could've easily gone another way.

Insofar as the accident, could've been a number of situations affecting anti-torque; everything from a gearbox failure to stuck pedal, to a possible HYD situation of differing types.
 
wheelsup said:
Can only see it if you have a Facebook account? Boo
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Really? I'm pretty sure you don't need an account to view it. It worked fine for me on my phone without being logged into Facebook. Sorry about that. So far, that's the only link of it I could find.
 
MikeD said:
You'd think, but it's actually worse. They were lucky in this case. Access is a major problem had extrication been required. Time wouldn't have been on their side had the fire been worse along with an extrication situation. And the pad fire system is designed for being on the pad. It helped in this case, but there were alot of factors that went the crew's way in terms of survivability, that could've easily gone another way.

Insofar as the accident, could've been a number of situations affecting anti-torque; everything from a gearbox failure to stuck pedal, to a possible HYD situation of differing types.
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You're right I didn't even think of the fire, was going more along the lines of immediate medical care
 
Flyinhigh728 said:
Really? I'm pretty sure you don't need an account to view it. It worked fine for me on my phone without being logged into Facebook. Sorry about that. So far, that's the only link of it I could find.
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That's cause facebook already knows who you are...

(scary isn't it)
 
I_Money said:
Looks like an anti torque failure and an incredible job by the pilot. While that roof looks big, they truly are not - going off the side of the building the outcome would have been very different for the crew and the people on the ground.
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This. Like the news chopper that crashed in Seattle last month.
 
Reminds me a bit of the animation they showed us in Methods indoc of an A-star that went IIMC. It was like 4 minutes long and if you didn't know they'd survived, you'd have sworn everyone was going to die any second now.

Not really similar except for 1) Great outcome because some peckerwood refused to lay down and die and 2) A-Stars...no thanks!
 
Boris Badenov said:
2) A-Stars...no thanks!
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AStar isn't a bad helo. For what we use it for in my operation, it isn't necessarily optimal.......I'd definitely take a more sturdy helicopter, but the overall airframe of the AS350/355 series isn't a bad aircraft for many operations.
 
Whistling past the graveyard, Mike? ;)

I guess I'll just leave it at "you're tougher than I am if you're cool with what appears to be a large plastic jug masquerading as a fuel tank perched directly above your poor unlucky head".

But then you ARE tougher than I am. Think I'll leave that job to you!
 
Boris Badenov said:
Whistling past the graveyard, Mike? ;)

I guess I'll just leave it at "you're tougher than I am if you're cool with what appears to be a large plastic jug masquerading as a fuel tank perched directly above your poor unlucky head".

But then you ARE tougher than I am. Think I'll leave that job to you!
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Sure we joke about tough guy stuff, but in all honesty when it comes to helos and weight considerations/ savings, sometimes there are some give and takes. Sure, the AStar fuel tank is nothing more than what you'd probably find on some John Deere farm tractor, and it's sitting right behind the aft bulkhead, and its been a factor in accidents of the AStar when it comes to post-crash survivability; in the Tucson accident as well as potentially in the Seattle accident; but its one of those things that has to be weighed of "if I want this helo to be able to work, what might I have to sacrifice?" Tough choice sometimes, I know, but there by the grace of God go I, I suppose.

I tend to think of helo flying in that kind of way.........regarding things like fuel tank types and the like.......and considering the type of flying I'm doing in my helo anyway.....down in canyons at night, power limited often, looking for things that aren't remotely worth the $$$ cost of the helo and personnel, and knowing that I'm essentially a dead man walking if that engine so much as hiccups, with nowhere for me to escape to or go. I look at it kind of like a B-52 crewman during the Hanoi raids of 1972, going against the toughest air defenses in the world at that time, and worrying that smoking might be bad for his health. :)

If you think the AStar is bad, try the Bell 47 / OH-13 Sioux series, and its fuel tank placement....and that's AVGAS (yeah I know......kind of like arguing the difference between getting bombed by a regular High Explosive bomb, or being bombed by a napalm bomb, but am just saying...:) ):

OH-13.jpg
 
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