Bell 230(?) crash Huntington Beach

Didn’t seize, that’s just the rpm matching the frame rate of the camera. But something in the driveshaft or transmission definitely failed during that gust of wind.

My friend was 30 feet away and I was supposed to be there. 3 injured on the ground one 11yr old kid got pinned and was pretty badly hurt.

For those that don’t know it was a helicopter and hyper car show in a parking lot at the beach scheduled for tomorrow. Today was the “landing party”
 
It’s a Bell 222. Something occurred where it slung the 90 degree gearbox off the bird. Probably the worst segment of flight to happen in, but also the most susceptible segment if it’s going to happen.

Cars and copters meet probably going to become cars only now.
 
Wardogg said:
I’m glad everyone is relatively ok.

There’s really only 2 appropriate responses here.

If Jan-Michael Vincent had been flying this probably wouldn’t have happened.

or

Ernest Borgnine is going to have some explaining to do.
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Great. Now I have that song stuck in my head.
 
Oh Helpies.


Just a helicopter being a helicopter.


If I had a dollar every time a helicopter went from normal, stable looking to spinning losing control and crashing to the ground, I’d be very rich.

You’ll never convince me that helicopter physics is anything other than pure sorcery :)




Seriously, glad everyone seems to be alive in this one.
 
On a lighter note, I've stayed in that hotel. Super nice. HUGE Indian wedding I went to.
 
@MikeD I don’t trust anything I see in video anymore. But this one is showing a control link that’s come loose? Would it have made it that far disconnected like that?

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11K views · 585 reactions | Expert eyes will note it immediately. Bell 222 accident in huntingtongue beach during Cars and Copters event. A close view to the Bell 222 tail rotor assembly | Naudy Lucena Linares

Expert eyes will note it immediately. Bell 222 accident in huntingtongue beach during Cars and Copters event. A close view to the Bell 222 tail rotor assembly.
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Wardogg said:
@MikeD I don’t trust anything I see in video anymore. But this one is showing a control link that’s come loose? Would it have made it that far disconnected like that?
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Pitch change linkage. If one of the connecting ends came apart, it would remain attached to one side until that side failed too from the G-forces of spinning or the crash of the helo, whichever occurs first. What caused that failure, and what caused the entire 90 degree gearbox to separate from the mounting point on the tail, will be the focus.

One of the worst possible flight phases for something like this to happen, but it’s one of the flight phases where it’s most likely to happen IF it’s a material failure of its own.

Could also be a result of some previous damage or wear either internally or externally. But this is one of the phases of flight where it’s most likely to give out.

But I’m a NOTAR fan, I have no love for tail rotors.
 
Just doing some very rough figuring, you would need a “Class K”-sized rocket motor (about the size of a handheld water bottle) at the tail to counter the rotor’s full-power torque for about one second.
 
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