A small helicopter crashed into a vacant industrial building north of Salt Lake City, Utah, at around 2 p.m. on December 2.
The helicopter struck the roof of a two-story building and bursted into flames, with 2 occupants trapped inside.
Police Chief Craig Black confirmed that both people aboard the helicopter were pronounced dead at the spot. No one on the ground was injured.
The FAA is looking into the cause of crash.
What: Robinson 44 helicopter
Where: Mudgee Australia
When: Dec 9, 2012
Who: 1 fatality
Why: A 48 year old man on an agricultural flight was flying a Robinson helicopter and crashed in steep and rugged bushland at Grattai in New South Wales. Emergency services responded to the scene at 11:00 a.m.
The pilot is thought to have been spraying for weeds.
The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. The Australian ATSB is investigating.
A float plane crashed near Ketchikan on the shoreline of a lake in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, on August 15th.
According to sources the plane wreckage was located on the Island, after which the pilot was rescued by the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.
One person aboard was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.
Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.
Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.
Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
“noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is
Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.
In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.
What: Nigerian Navy Agusta A109E
Where: Ogbia Creek, Bayelsa Nigeria
When: Dec 15, 2012, 1500 hrs
Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities
Why: A Nigerian Navy helicopter crashed in Bayelsa Nigeria. Among the fatalities is the governor of Kaduna, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.
Several politicians had traveled to Bayelsa for the funeral of the father of Mr. Oronto Douglas, the President’s Special Adviser on Research and Documentation.
Also aboard was former national security adviser Gen Owoye Azazi. The rest of the casualties are governor’s aide, Dauda Tsoho and Warrant Officer Mohammed Kamal who is Azazi’s aide as well as the pilots, Commander Murtala Mohammed Daba and Lt. Adeyemi O. Sowole.
The helicopter crashed five minutes after it took off, between 3:30 and 4 pm around Nembe-Okoroba area. Witnesses say the helicopter nosedived, then was a crash, and the chipper burst into flames. There was a big burst of black smoke.
Search and rescue operation was performed by a combined team of personnel from Joint Task Force (OPS PULO SHIELD), Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, NEMA and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. The remains have been taken to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.
Another chopper with registration number 5NBOR carried other aides and security details to Port Harcourt without incident.
The crash is under investigation.
The question is should helicopters be used as aerial cranes in construction?
Helicopters are prone to the vortex ring state (fatally settling into their own downwash), Low-G condition, Dynamic rollover and tail rotor failure, ground resonance, not to mention a serious state of vibration, (among other problems.)
Using helicopters to carry loads connected to long cables or slings to relocate heavy equipment such as large air conditioning units on tall buildings is asking for trouble.
It is not surprising that the aerial crane helicopter crashed at the Willow Island Power this weekend. The pilot was in the process of his fifth lift of the day when he started spinning and the tail rotor came off. The pilot dropped his load but managed to crash land with his props bent up, on a coal heap.
The FAA’s FSDO office is investigating the incident. The St. Louis Helicopter Company pilot’s name has not been released.
src: http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/16432916.html
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/503230.html?nav=5061
http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=35801
Sixteen year-old Autumn Veatch tried to save her step-grandparents after she survived a fiery small plane crash impacting a Washington mountain. The Beech A35 aircraft struck Saturday and she survived two days on her own, after scrambling out of the burning plane with her hair on fire.She tried but could not rescue her grandmother, Sharon Bowman, nor her grandfather, Leland Bowman.
The Beech A35 Bonanza crashed in the North Cascades, west of Mazama, WA between Kalispell and Lynden. Weather was a key factor in the accident. A second plane crashed into Twin Sisters mountain in the North Cascades on the same day.
Some of the footage of Autumn has been collected and is available here:
