Penn Star KLOM loss of Tail Rotor

Damn, nice work.

Didn’t see any skid tracks leading up to the aircraft leading me to believe the pilot executed a zero ground run landing which isn’t the easiest way to land from an autorotation. That he only landed hard enough to collapse one skid is impressive.
 
Looks like very well done. Not sure when and/or how much tail rotor thrust was lost initially, but it appears the pilot avoided the spin of death by getting rid of the power quickly while entering the auto or shortly thereafter (some work it take in a twin engine aircraft), and thus avoiding a spin in the flare. As Ian said, the appearance of a zero ground run landing WITH the aircraft ending up upright and not spun/on its side, is a feat in and of itself.
 
MikeD said:
Looks like very well done. Not sure when and/or how much tail rotor thrust was lost initially, but it appears the pilot avoided the spin of death by getting rid of the power quickly while entering the auto or shortly thereafter (some work it take in a twin engine aircraft), and thus avoiding a spin in the flare. As Ian said, the appearance of a zero ground run landing WITH the aircraft ending up upright and not spun/on its side, is a feat in and of itself.
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The Pilot must have reacted almost instantly. The TR (cf. Pics) departed "clean" The tail and was found within a block distance, so we are talking seconds. Can't wait for the report. One thing for sure is it was well handled. I see these guys often, while flying in this area.

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melax said:
The Pilot must have reacted almost instantly. The TR (cf. Pics) departed "clean" The tail and was found within a block distance, so we are talking seconds. Can't wait for the report. One thing for sure is it was well handled. I see these guys often, while flying in this area.
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Doesn’t necessarily need to be instantly, but a pretty quick reaction. Hopefully there was maybe some vibe or some indication that something was up for the pilot to be forewarned. I didn’t see the initial part, if it’s even filmed, but the good thing is that even if a spin began to develop, at least with some forward speed, those large vertical fins would weathervane the tail pretty quickly during the autorotation. The engines would have to shut down at least by the time of the flare to landing which it appears was done. Agree on this being well handled, with an outcome that also supports that.

It’s nice to hear an issue with an EMS helo that for once, isn’t a complete fatal for the whole crew.
 
MikeD said:
Doesn’t necessarily need to be instantly, but a pretty quick reaction. Hopefully there was maybe some vibe or some indication that something was up for the pilot to be forewarned. I didn’t see the initial part, if it’s even filmed, but the good thing is that even if a spin began to develop, at least with some forward speed, those large vertical fins would weathervane the tail pretty quickly during the autorotation. The engines would have to shut down at least by the time of the flare to landing which it appears was done. Agree on this being well handled, with an outcome that also supports that.

It’s nice to hear an issue with an EMS helo that for once, isn’t a complete fatal for the whole crew.
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There is a video of the terminal phase, no spin so as I said, the pilot reaction was pretty quick and accurate... he landed on the driveway :biggrin: the TR was found in a yard within the block.
 
melax said:
There is a video of the terminal phase, no spin so as I said, the pilot reaction was pretty quick and accurate... he landed on the driveway :biggrin: the TR was found in a yard within the block.
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What I mean was whether there was an initial spin starting that the pilot was able to negate at the beginning of it, or not. Haven’t seen any video of that (if there is any), and if that was the case then that was a job well done also.
 
MikeD said:
What I mean was whether there was an initial spin starting that the pilot was able to negate at the beginning of it, or not. Haven’t seen any video of that (if there is any), and if that was the case then that was a job well done also.
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Of course at the onset there will be an angular displacement... Looking at the "clean" separation of the TR it was a sudden (instant event), the pilot responded accordingly I think (My opinion), my reasoning being based on the distance from the TR assembly to the crash site~1,000ft so the pilot reacted very quickly, Praises to the pilot.
I will find out who it was and buy him/her a Beer... PILOT=HERO
They heliported a close friend of mine to HUP and saved his life in the process, so I have a personal stake praising this feat.
 
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melax said:
Of course at the onset there will be an angular displacement... Looking at the "clean" separation of the TR it was a sudden (instant event), the pilot responded accordingly I think (My opinion), my reasoning being based on the distance from the TR assembly to the crash site~1,000ft so the pilot reacted very quickly, Praises to the pilot.
I will find out who it was and buy him/her a Beer... PILOT=HERO
They heliported a close friend of mine to HUP and saved his life in the process, so I have a personal stake praising this feat.
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With any torque applied, there’s going to be an immediate yaw in the torque direction with sudden TR loss. There’s no way to avoid it. Forward speed and the vertical tail surfaces help recover directional control. Am curious if the TR separated with zero warning pr if there was some indication of an issue.

Considering the abysmal safety record of HEMS to date, at least its some good news.
 
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