Helicopter crash - 6 tourists injured - Page 2

#21 18.02.2011, 17:02

It's been a bad couple of months for air accidents in the Valais/Vaud alps. In Jan a helicopter took off from Bex and crashed in the mountains in front of the pilot's family killing him and his friend. Last week a light aircraft carrying Mum, Dad and two teenage kids crashed on top of the mountains above Sion killing everybody on board. Then there was the helicopter accident in Diablarets the OP mentions. Accidents are one thing but how about this one:

http://www.bluewin.ch/fr/index.php/1...itsdivers/sda/

In a nutshell, last week a helicopter in the process of landing skiers near Crans Montana had it's rotors pelted by some idiot with lumps of ice. Luckily the pilot was able to control the aircraft.

Castro · #22 18.02.2011, 17:20

	Quote:	WelshBoyo
	Don't forget coaxial rotors:-

Co axial helicopters are great in principle since you get 100% of the power going to the rotor blades, as opposed to only 70% with a conventional helicopter (the tail rotor robs ~30% of the engine's power counteracting torque). The main issue is the complexity of the head design and the risk of blade strike

Brass427 · #23 18.02.2011, 20:59

	Quote:	Mattasmack
	Agreed -- poor word choice on my part. One would reduce power and enter auto-rotation; turning the engine off entirely really takes away all your options, doesn't it?

They sorta drop in a controlled fashion. We took some AK rounds in the trans of our Huey and by the time we'd hit we'd only rotated once around the axis, but our gunner had to grab two guys from sliding out. They lost their M-16s and one lost his helmet, but he managed to catch one of the skids and slide back in before we 'touched' down. Yeah they can make it.

Brass427 · #24 18.02.2011, 20:59

	Quote:	Brass427
	They sorta drop in a controlled fashion. We took some AK rounds in the trans of our Huey and by the time we'd hit we'd only rotated once around the axis, but our gunner had to grab two guys from sliding out. They lost their M-16s and one lost his helmet, but he managed to catch one of the skids and slide back in before we 'touched' down. Yeah they can make it.

Just kidding. Never happened.

Wollishofener · #25 19.02.2011, 04:46

	Quote:	WelshBoyo
	Not exactly the most reliable of sources the Daily Mail because this is a Eurocopter AS350 would only hold the 6 passengers that are injured and not 12 that is stated in the article:- The helicopter pilot and five of the twelve passengers on board suffered light to medium injuries, the director of Heli Suisse, Alex Baechlin, told The Associated Press Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1EHqELzb6 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ki-resort.html Also in German Paper http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/Content...=1297923949182 And French:- http://www.24heures.ch/accident-heli...ets-2011-02-17

It is easy to verify, as it is THIS helicopter with 6 seats

--

Registration: HB-ZHI
Hersteller: EUROCOPTER
Lfz.-Muster/Typ: AS 350 B2
Marketingbezeichnung: Ecureuil
Certification Basis: 14 CFR FAR Part 27
Airworthiness Category: Small Rotorcraft
Zuordnung: EASA
Aircraft Address: 4932290 (dec) 4b42c2 (hex) 22641302 (oct) 010010110100001011000010 (bin)
Baujahr: 2006
Werknummer: 9075
Anzahl Sitze (Indikativ): 6 Max.
Abflugmasse (kg): 2250
Triebwerkmuster: ARRIEL 1D1
Haupteigentümer: Sandoz, Pierre, Chemin de Saugy, 1482 Cugy FR, Schweiz
Haupthalter: Heliswiss, Schweizerische Helicopter AG, 3123 Belp, Schweiz

----------------

out of the BAZL WEBsite

and here a photo of when it was operating :

-

Colonelboris · #26 19.02.2011, 09:39

	Quote:	Brass427
	Just kidding. Never happened.

How many Vietnam War veterans does it take to change a light bulb?
You don't know? OF COURSE YOU DON'T KNOW, YOU WEREN'T THERE, MAN!

weejeem · #27 19.02.2011, 12:53

	Quote:	TiMow
	If a tail rotor was always needed to counter the rotation of the main rotor (and not engine torque), then an autogyro would also a require a tail rotor - which it doesn't. It has a free turning, unpowered main rotor to provide lift (i.e. rotary wing), which only rotates through forward motion provided by a "normal" engine-powered propeller, working in the horizontal plain.

	Quote:	WelshBoyo
	I would agree with you there, I also thought the rear wing (like on a plane) was also there to aid with counteracting the engine torque.

Bit of confusion going on here

Antitorque isn't just a "complicated rudder" - it's a system that needs to function at any speed including no speed, backwards and sideways. Few fixed wing or autogyros do this, they tend to go forwards only, so airflow over a rudder suffices for them

Rudder on fixed wing isn't used to compensate for engine torque, aileron is; rudder's needed to compensate for the propwash

And yes, you still need some antitorque for an engine-out autorotation, due to friction in power train bearings etc - much less relative to engine-on, but still needed