Helicopter Crash AZ Superstition Mountains
- Thread starter bc2209
- Start date
A Life Aloft
Well-Known Member
Very sorry this happened. Thoughts for their families, loved ones and co-workers. No one wants to see good men lose their lives. Sad.
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
Thanks @SpiraMirabilis. It's one of those things that's had to gauge if you have a (small) amount of personal experience. I didn't er inhabit that world or whatever for very long, and I knew two guys who got dead doing it (rotor guys, obviously, AFAICT, the fixed wing side is the next thing to sitting at home baking in terms of Danger). But anecdotal stories are just that. I would be further curious, however, to see an honest assessment of the risk/reward/profit matrix. My impression of operations of this sort in other countries is that they are generally two pilot ops in significantly more capable machines, often funded at least in part by charity. Now, what's not clear at all to me is whether or not that equates to people not being saved who might have been. That is, does the fact that, in the US, one is (I suppose, here) more likely to be within easy reach of an A-Star than one is to be in easy reach of a BK in, say, Germany, equate to people still breathing here who might not be still breathing there? That would seem to mitigate (what I again, suppose to be) the increased risk for the crews.
FlyingPoke
I'm here to help...
Thoughts are with those lost and their families.
Not to derail the thread, but here's a link to statistics for other segments of aviation, for those who are curious like myself:
https://www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/stats/
badtransam97
Well-Known Member
Prayers and thoughts to all those involved in yet another accident.
I'll be glad when I'm out of HEMS. It's paying the bills right now while the wife finishes up school, and it allows us to live where we want, not to mention a great schedule, but as soon as I am able to make the jump to a FW gig that can offer close to those same things, I'm done.
This just seems to keep getting out of hand, and it is hard to keep going into work wondering...what if, or who's next.
I'll be glad when I'm out of HEMS. It's paying the bills right now while the wife finishes up school, and it allows us to live where we want, not to mention a great schedule, but as soon as I am able to make the jump to a FW gig that can offer close to those same things, I'm done.
This just seems to keep getting out of hand, and it is hard to keep going into work wondering...what if, or who's next.
WX wouldn't have been a factor. However if there was some kind of occurrence that required an autorotation, there is no good area to auto to, altitude dependent, in that area when transiting from PHX-Globe. It's rugged, mountainous and cliffs, and little more. Combined with night, even if aided, and the low-illum not helping, would make a successful autorotation nearly impossible.
Right now it just suggests that there was no post impact fire. However we'll likely know soon whether that was from the fuel system maintaining its integrity, or there not being any ignition sources present or none that took any effect, or whether it was something else related or unrelated to fuel specifically, and/or mechanically in general. Mechanically, I'm very interested to know if it was something specifically engine related, as the Turbomeca Arriel 2B series of engines, especially the 2B1, are exceptionally reliable powerplants.
I_Money
Moderator
The medic was reported covered in fuel - in the HEMS circles rumor has it there was two loud bangs, then a pilot shouting 'oh • - hold on'.