Helicopter Crash AZ Superstition Mountains

Wow, scary stuff. I was with a student down southeast around Coolidge last week in the rain and it was just pitch black worse than I've seen in Montana's entire state. You really gotta be on the watch out to the east, I guess.

Hopefully everyone else stays safe.
 
That is very unforgiving terrain out that way. I was friends with some of the NativeAir PC12 guys when I was instructing at Williams. Really good people and it was amazing where they'd put those things down to pick up somebody. I'd always assumed their rotor guys were just as bad ass. Hopefully they were able to find a soft spot to put it down.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
It was one of our helicopters out of Globe, AZ. I don't know anything else.
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Native 5. 1 was transported to Maricopa County, no word on condition. Curiously, does your RW side fly NVGs? Some operations do, some don't. Not sure whether you guys do.
 
MikeD said:
Native 5. 1 was transported to Maricopa County, no word on condition. Curiously, does your RW side fly NVGs? Some operations do, some don't. Not sure whether you guys do.
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All RW have NVGs. They either retrofitted or sold all the old ass BKs for NVGs even.
 
Officials said that site is located in a remote area and very rugged terrain and cause of the crash is under investigation.
 
MikeD said:
The BK-117 is a great helo for medevac. Would prefer one of them over an AStar
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That is true. They were just so old they were getting to be hangar queens. BKs are awesome helicopters, almost perfectly designed for the EMS mission.

It's a shame their successor the 145 is so expensive it is most of the time not feasible to operate in a community based competitive environment because it is also perfectly suited for EMS.

Personally, I think the best helicopter just on the size and specs for EMS is the A109. Twin engine, big enough cabin to potentially work on the patient, quite fast for a helicopter, cheaper than the 145s. But everyone tells me they are a nightmare in the maintenance side.
 
One of our guys made this image today.

image.jpeg
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
That is true. They were just so old they were getting to be hangar queens. BKs are awesome helicopters, almost perfectly designed for the EMS mission.

It's a shame their successor the 145 is so expensive it is most of the time not feasible to operate in a community based competitive environment because it is also perfectly suited for EMS.

Personally, I think the best helicopter just on the size and specs for EMS is the A109. Twin engine, big enough cabin to potentially work on the patient, quite fast for a helicopter, cheaper than the 145s. But everyone tells me they are a nightmare in the maintenance side.
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The problem with the EC-145 is that mast moment indicator system, which is very easily exceeded, and if exceeded beyond a certain percentage, even for the slightest of time, requires a teardown of the rotor mast. For that reason, the US Army won't land their UH-72s off field nor practice touchdown autos with them, as they've replaced the TH-67s.

The Augusta-Westland series of helos are excellent for EMS, particularly the A109 as you mention, and even just as great the A119. Both excellent helicopters. The 109s are older and likely somewhat more on the maintenance, but they are great birds. Also the Bell 222/430 series. Great for EMS, but pricey.
 
Damn. How selfless do you have to be to drag yourself to work everyday with all these accidents in the back of your mind. I'm talking both the pilots and the flight nurses. Incredible human beings in my book.

I'm really sorry if any of you knew theses guys or gals. Terrible.
 
ChasenSFO said:
Damn. How selfless do you have to be to drag yourself to work everyday with all these accidents in the back of your mind. I'm talking both the pilots and the flight nurses. Incredible human beings in my book.

I'm really sorry if any of you knew theses guys or gals. Terrible.
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There are two bases in Globe, both rotor.I can't imagine working that second base.
 
Boris Badenov said:
I'd be interested to see a breakdown of accidents per flight hour in HEMS. It certainly gives the impression of being totally out of control.
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I think the average HEMS operator has 1 fatal accident every 100,000 flight hours. When I was in training I believe Aaron Todd said Air Methods did better at about 130-140k but with as many flight hours as we fly that makes it less impressive since it would happen maybe one to two times a year.

Edit: I found this data from 2010, 3.9 accidents and .83 fatal accidents per 100k flight hours. Interestingly enough private helicopters have 29.7 accidents per 100k flight hours.

https://www.aea.net/events/rotorcraft/files/US_Rotorcraft_Accident_Data_And_Statistics.pdf
 
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