Helicopter

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    Medevac Crash Update

    update:

    • Governor Martin O’Malley ordered all state flags to fly at half mast to honor the four victims killed in a medevac helicopter crash over the weekend.
    • Vewing for Trooper First Class Mickey Lippy will be Thursday, October 2nd from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Gamber & Community Fire Company Station 13 on Niner Road in Gamber, MD.
    • Viewing for Pilot Stephen Bunker from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at South Potomac Church on Crain Highway in White Plains, MD.
    • Lippy’s funeral will take place on Friday, October 3rd at 11:00 a.m at Gamber & Community Fire Company. Burial will be at the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens on Padonia Road in Timonium.
      MD.

    • Bunker’s funeral will take place Saturday, October 4th, at 11:00 a.m. at South Potomac Church in White Plains, MD. Burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery on Pennsylvania Avenue in Suitland, MD.
    • Arrangements for Frostburg State University freshman Ashley Younger and Waldorf Rescue Squad EMT Tanya Mallard have not been announced.

    Survivor eighteen year old Jordan Wells critical at Boston Hospital where she was operated through the night Sunday, which alleviated fears that they might have to amputate one or both of her legs. When Ashley Younger (the other victim) never showed up, Younger’s mother probed the hospital staff, learned the helicopter had been rerouted to Andrews Air Force Base. The three women rushed there only to find that no helicopter had landed, so they returned to the hospital where they found Wells rushed through on a gurney. In spite of asking ‘Where’s my daughter? Where’s Ashley?’ ” no one told her that her daughter had died on the scene. The medical helicopter was carrying victims of a Saturday night traffic accident when it went down around midnight.

    What: American Eurocopter Dauphin II
    Where: Helicopter left its hanger at Andrews Air Force Base. suburban Washington park in a wooded area of Walker Mill Regional Park off of Ritchie Road.
    When: Sunday
    Who: Killed in the crash besides Bunker were Trooper First Class Mickey Lippy, EMT-B Tonya Mallard of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department and Ashley Younger, a 17-year-old who was the second victim from the Waldorf car accident.
    Why: The helicopter was transporting car crash victims to the hospital. One eighteen year old crash victim survived both the car crash and the helicopter crash, and was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

    On the twenty-five mile trip from the traffic accident to the hospital the flight was diverted due to bad weather. On approach to the runway, the pilot radioed that he was having trouble assessing his surroundings. Under deteriorating weather conditions, the pilot had requested an instrument approach and reported problems “capturing the glide slope”. The glide slope is the part of the instrument landing system that helps keep the aircraft at the proper altitude during the approach. It appears the helicopter first hit a tree at about 80 feet above the ground. The chopper landed on its left side with a tree crashing down on top of the helicopter.

    Accident victim Jordan Wells, 18, survived the crash and is at a hospital in critical condition

    The law enforcement agency’s helicopter fleet was grounded until Tuesday.


    Click to view Memorial Page

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    UN Helicopter crash in Darfur

    What: United Nations-contracted helicopter carrying food to peacekeeping mission
    Where: Darfur region of Sudan near the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons
    When: Tuesday
    Who: (3 Russian one Sudanese)four crew members killed
    Why: chopper fired upon over Darfur

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    Helicopter Crashes in Washington Park

    update:
    Survivor eighteen year old Jordan Wells critical at Boston Hospital where she was operated through the night Sunday, which alleviated fears that they might have to amputate one or both of her legs. When Ashley Younger (the other victim) never showed up, Younger’s mother probed the hospital staff, learned the helicopter had been rerouted to Andrews Air Force Base. The three women rushed there only to find that no helicopter had landed, so they returned to the hospital where they found Wells rushed through on a gurney. In spite of asking ‘Where’s my daughter? Where’s Ashley?’ ” no one told her that her daughter had died on the scene. The medical helicopter was carrying victims of a Saturday night traffic accident when it went down around midnight.

    What: American Eurocopter Dauphin II
    Where: Helicopter left its hanger at Andrews Air Force Base. suburban Washington park in a wooded area of Walker Mill Regional Park off of Ritchie Road.
    When: Sunday
    Who: Killed in the crash besides Bunker were Trooper First Class Mickey Lippy, EMT-B Tonya Mallard of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department and Ashley Younger, a 17-year-old who was the second victim from the Waldorf car accident.
    Why: The helicopter was transporting car crash victims to the hospital. One eighteen year old crash victim survived both the car crash and the helicopter crash, and was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

    On the twenty-five mile trip from the traffic accident to the hospital the flight was diverted due to bad weather. On approach to the runway, the pilot radioed that he was having trouble assessing his surroundings. Under deteriorating weather conditions, the pilot had requested an instrument approach and reported problems “capturing the glide slope”. The glide slope is the part of the instrument landing system that helps keep the aircraft at the proper altitude during the approach. It appears the helicopter first hit a tree at about 80 feet above the ground. The chopper landed on its left side with a tree crashing down on top of the helicopter.

    Accident victim Jordan Wells, 18, survived the crash and is at a hospital in critical condition

    The law enforcement agency’s helicopter fleet has been grounded until further notice.


    Click to view Memorial Page

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    Helicopter Crashes in Washington park

    What: American Eurocopter Dauphin II
    Where: Helicopter left its hanger at Andrews Air Force Base. suburban Washington park in a wooded area of Walker Mill Regional Park off of Ritchie Road.
    When: Sunday
    Who: Killed in the crash besides Bunker were Trooper First Class Mickey Lippy, EMT-B Tonya Mallard of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department and Ashley Younger, a 17-year-old who was the second victim from the Waldorf car accident.
    Why: The helicopter was transporting car crash victims to the hospital. One eighteen year old crash victim survived both the car crash and the helicopter crash, and was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

    On the twenty-five mile trip from the traffic accident to the hospital the flight was diverted due to bad weather. On approach to the runway, the pilot radioed that he was having trouble assessing his surroundings. Under deteriorating weather conditions, the pilot had requested an instrument approach and reported problems “capturing the glide slope”. The glide slope is the part of the instrument landing system that helps keep the aircraft at the proper altitude during the approach. It appears the helicopter first hit a tree at about 80 feet above the ground. The chopper landed on its left side with a tree crashing down on top of the helicopter.

    Accident victim Jordan Wells, 18, survived the crash and is at a hospital in critical condition

    The law enforcement agency’s helicopter fleet has been grounded until further notice.


    Click to view Memorial Page

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    Brazil Helicopter Crash under Investigation

    What: Agusta Westland A109S helicopter, Brazilian registration PR-IPO departure from the Parati/Condomínio Laranjeiras heliport, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil
    Where: Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil
    When: April 30, 2008 22:59 UTC
    Who: 2 fatalities.
    Why: The Brazil CENIPA has requested assistance from the US manufacturers of electronic components in the helicopter to download non-volatile memory information.

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    Helicopter Lands Hard On Soft Ground

    What: Helicopter, from Bristow Academy, a helicopter flight school located at the Space Coast Regional Airport
    Where: Landing occurred off Highway 50, west of Interstate 95 in a marshy area in Brevard County.
    When: 11:45 a.m. Thursday
    Who: The helicopter was carrying an instructor and a student on a training exercise. Neither was injured but both were transported to Parrish Medical Center
    Why: When helicopter came in for a landing, it skidded in the marsh.

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    Bell Helicopter sinks off of Western Australia Coast

    What: Bell 407 helicopter took off from the holiday vessel True North for a scenic flight around the Horizontal Falls area.
    Where: In the ocean at Talbot Bay
    When: Reported to Tam Air on September 25, 2008 04:00 pm
    Who: Six passengers and a pilot on board. All were rescued. A woman in her late eighties needed CPR, and was flown to Broome hospital by float plane and is currently in stable condition.
    Why: Engine Failure

    Measures are being taken to curtail environmental damage, and attempts will be made to activate the plane’s flotation controls which the pilot did not have time to activate.

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    SW Wisconsin Helicopter Crash kills 2

    What: 2006 Robinson R44 registered to Midwestern Air Services of Kenosha
    Where: one mile south of the Kenosha Airport, at 6934 97th Ave.
    When: 5:30 a.m. Sunday
    Who: Alan Sapko and Joan Anzalone were killed in the crash. Sapko, 54, reportedly played cards until about 4:30 a.m. before lifting off and flying into fog.
    Why: Some fog was in the area at the time, but it was not known if that played a role. The FAA is investigationg why the helicopter crashed through the roof of a house in southeast Wisconsin Sunday, killing the two people on board. The five people in the house–the Wilson family including their three children–were all unharmed.

    The two hundred gallons of fuel spilled but did not set the house on fire.

    Witnesses heard the helicopter sputtering before the crash. The airport’s tower does not open until 7 a.m.

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    Hercules Grounded

    What: RAAF Hercules during a training flight
    Where: near Richmond, north-west of Sydney
    When: Monday about 8.25pm (AEST)
    Who: No injuries
    Why: crew detected a fault with the nose-wheel–an “unusual” fault prompted an emergency landing. At 8.55pm the crew put in a mayday call but landed safely at the Richmond Base 20 minutes later. Subsequently, all 24 of the RAAF’s Hercules planes were grounded

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    Rescue Pilot Rescued in NZ

    What: Skyline Aviation Robinson 44 Helicopter
    Where: 20 kilometres northwest of Napier
    When: Monday Sept 15
    Who: relief pilot for the service for five years
    Why:Pilot who flew into some overhead wires and crashed while while spraying blackberry farm, was trapped beneath the wrecked helicopter with a punctured lung, a broken arm and fuel burns. His condition is critical, and he is in intensive care in Hawke’s Bay Hospital

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    Three Dead in Australian Crash

    What: Kenny-owned helicopter took off from Bellburn airstrip
    Where: Purnululu National Park The airstrip abuts a bush camp in the World Heritage-listed Purnululu, about 55 kilometres by air from the township of Warmun.
    When: on Sunday
    Who: three young women and their Queensland pilot killed when a helicopter crashed. Pilot Christian Cartigue, and passengers Jessica May Cousins, 19, and Sarah Louise Thomas and Whitney Pinney, both 20.
    Why: Rugged terrain in the remote Kimberley location is hampering recovery


    Photo from http://www.smh.com.au/

    Jessica Cousins inset, Sarah Thomas … both died in the crash.

  • Helicopter Lands Safely in St. Pete

    What: six-seat American Eurocopter AS350 used by News Channel 8, St. Petersburg
    Where: Tierra Verde
    When: September 11, 2008
    Who: Pilot/reporter Judd Chapin and photographer Cliff McBride
    Why: After a warning light come on indicating hydraulic problems, the helicopter landed safely at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg for repairs.

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    Camp Pendleton Crash Resolved in Court


    Jurors are sending a message to big business.

    The only way to hurt big business is through the pocket book. When you hit them there, they eventually come around to doing what is right.

    After this California wrongful death lawsuit verdict, my bet is that SDG&E will develop a belated conscience and will install safety devices or ball markers to help prevent this type of disaster.

    So we are offering congratulations to the jurors for using their voices; and congratulations to the families. No amount of money is going to bring back those precious four lives, or ever ease the pain of their families, but, at the very least we can hope that the families will have some comfort that a small measure of justice has been served.

  • Hawaii Helicopter Crash


    What: HH-65 Dolphin helicopter
    Where: off Oahu,
    When: September 5, 2008
    Who: four-person U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew. 3 killed, one missing. Including Joshua Nichols’, Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, 44, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin, 38, of San Bernardino, Calif.
    Missing is pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, 42.
    Why:helicopter went down while conducting search and rescue drills with a 47-foot motor lifeboat

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    Helicopter Crashes in Dubai Killing 7


    What: Aerogulf Bell 212 helicopter flying from Dubai International Airport to one of the oil fields in the Gulf Sea. The helicopter was leased to the oil company by the aircraft firm Aerogulf,
    Where: Crashed into an oil platform off the Duba Coast 50 NM west of Dubai Airport
    When: Sept 3–20:23 local time
    Who: two pilots and five contractors working for British oil and gas services company Petrofac: an American, a Briton, two Indians, a Pakistani, one Filipino and a Venezuelan.
    Why: The British pilot lost control during take off, hit a crane crashed and exploded wednesday on a recently installed Resilient jack-up oil rig. After the helicopter propellers hit the crane, the aircraft split in two; half smashed on to the rig, while the other half fell into the sea.

    The rig is owned by AP Moller-Maersk but operated by Petrofac on behalf of state-owned Dubai Petroleum. Production in one of Dubai’s four oil fields has been suspended. The engine and the gear box have been found.

    So far five of the bodies have been identified; one report says only two of the bodies need identification by DNA testing. All of the victims were contracted personnel.

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    Millions Awarded to Crash Victims


    Two helicopters–both crews using night-vision goggles–participated in the nighttime maneuvers on Jan. 22, 2004 – a “low bird” that flew close to the ground and a “high bird” that flew above looking for possible obstructions. As the helicopters were leaving Talega Canyon, the UH-1N helicopter known as a Huey struck a 135-foot utility tower. The Cobra was intact. The Huey was not. All the victims were Iraq veterans attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

    Fast forward to 2008. (Cases like these take years to go to trial.)

    Family members of Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29; 1st Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26; Staff Sgt. Lori A. Privette, 27; and Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, asked for unspecified damages in the wrongful-death lawsuit. In a jury decision, over $15 million was awarded on Wednesday to the families of four Marines killed. Plus some $50 million in punitive damages.

    San Diego Gas & Electric, which owned the tower was determined by the jury to be negligent and “acted with malice” by not installing safety devices to prevent accidents. After a three week trial and deliberating one day, the jury determined that the parents of all four Marines should receive $2.125 million. Lawlor’s wife was entitled to $4.5 million for the loss and $2.2 million in lost earnings.

    SDG&E bore 56 percent of the responsibility for the collision because they knew about the hazard and failed to follow safety recommendations. Pilots and other parties shared the rest of the blame. After the trial’s punitive damages phase, the jury awarded $10.1 million to the families of each Marine who died in the crash.

    Since the accident, SDG&E has installed lights.

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    Emergency Landing in KY


    What: Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter out of Frankfort
    Where: In a field next to the Kroger grocery store and Burger King restaurant in Murray Kentucky
    When: 2:30 p.m.
    Who: four-man flight crew from the 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade
    Why: one of the crew members said a hydraulic hose busted and they had to make the emergency landing. A six-foot high-pressure hydraulic hose – about the size of a straw – frayed and developed a leak. A second helicopter flew in repair parts. There were no injuries.

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    Wildfire Crash Update


    While on it’s third run from Helispot 44, at an elevation 5,935 feet, to Helispot 36, at an elevation of 2,516 feet, ferrying firefighters from a remote mountain site in the Shasta-Trinity forest, the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter crashed killing 9.

    Fortunately, the voice-data recorder was determined to be intact despite fire damage. The investigation so far has found that the chopper’s main rotor lost power during takeoff. After the rotor malfunction, witnesses say the helicopter struck trees and slammed into the hillside. Four of the thirteen passengers–three fire fighters and the co-pilot–survived. The co-pilot remains hospitalized.

    Read profiles of the victims here

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    UTair Crash at Nizhnevartovsk


    Pictured: A UTair Aviation Mil Mi-8T
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Schelakovsky Maxim

    What: UT Air
    Where: 350 kms from Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
    When: July 2 2008
    Who: 9 fatalities, 13 aboard
    Why: The helicopter was on landing approach when according to witnesses, it caught fire and crashed. Apparently one of the black boxes survived and is being studied. The crew survived the crash.

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    Catalina Island Express Crash


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Jerry Search

    What: Island Express Helicopter Service
    Where: Catalina Island
    When: May 24 2008
    Who: 6 aboard, 3 fatalities
    Why: On May 24, 2008, at 0920 Pacific daylight time, an Aerospatiale AS-350-D helicopter, N67GE, operated by Island Express Helicopters, Inc., impacted terrain while landing at Two Harbors, Avalon, located on Santa Catalina Island, California, during a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand, commercial flight. The flight departed from the Queensway Bay Heliport, Long Beach, California, at 0907. The commercial pilot, a company employee, and one passenger were killed, and three passengers were seriously injured. The helicopter was destroyed by impact damage and fire

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    Is Justice Done?

    It has been officially determined that helicoptor pilot Philip Heney’s death in a helicoptor crash is due to negligence by Skytech Aviation, who allowed the work of unlicensed mechanics to go unsupervised.

    The accident happened hours after Skytech Aviation released the Robinson R22 after extensive maintenance.

    John Horrell and licensed aircraft maintenance engineer Ronald Potts were found guilty of manslaughter of Heney, and injury of his passenger by failing to inspect the maintenance work. Each were fined and sentenced to 300 hours’ community service. (Potts $10,000; Horrell $25,000).

    Compensation will be divided between the injury victim and the grieving family.

    Heney’s widow, who wanted a prison sentence for Potts and Horrell, is disappointed in the verdict.

    Although loss of main rotor control of R22 helicopters have been a known factor since before April 2, 1996 when the National Transportation Safety Board published a special investigation report, in this case, investigators concluded the R22 crashed because its tail-rotor drive shaft had been assembled incorrectly during maintenance by unlicensed mechanics whose work Horrell and Potts failed to properly inspect.

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    Carolina Beach Rd Helicopter Crash Thursday March 13, 2008

    Thursday March 13, 2008-Pilot John C. Miller, 18 year veteran firefighter, died in a helicopter crash behind Strickland Surplus Inc. at 5915 Carolina Beach Road in North Carolina. Miller was a member of a water rescue and recovery team and captain of Station 5. He ran a business, Wilmington Helicopter Rental & Training, and was about to take his final test to become a certified instructor. The helicoptor was a (year 2000) Robinson R22 Beta, a “trainer”. Miller was the only person on board the two seater.

    We extend our condolences to family and friends.

    The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

  • Copter Crash Construction Catastrophe

    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