18th Nov fatal of AS350 (eurocopter)

Since I'm learning to fly an R22, some friends sent me various links of a dolly/cart landing gone wrong @ Carlsbad/Palomar. Various reports suggest the dolly was not chocked.

KUSI Exclusive video of Palomar helicopter crash - KUSI News - San Diego, CA

ASN Aircraft accident 18-NOV-2015 Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil N711BE

-mick

 

I don't see a dolly/cart in either of the videos.... But that is definitely a messed up situation. I guess they were incapacitated and couldn't shut it down so it just spun until it died?

 

The reports are all over the place re the victims - some say they saw one trying to get out others have calculated the forces on the guys was between 5 and 11Gs. What seems odd to me is that the fire truck got nearby and did nothing for the 8 minutes the thing spun. Why they could not have shot foam into the intake I have no idea and would like to know.

-mick

 

Sounds like the pilot was pretty experienced..... Yeah I suppose once it got spinning they were probably pinned in place. I can see why they wouldn't get close with it spinning like that, they probably couldn't even hit the intake if they wanted to.

American Bank CEO Bruce Allen Erickson killed after crashing helicopter | Daily Mail Online

 

Its unclear who was flying as the other victim was re-learning flying helicopters. The bit about the unsecured dolly was captured from the liveatc ground recording.

-mick

 

Probably very unsafe to get close enough to shoot foam.

 

Send a tug or clapped out crew car at it with the ebrake dragging. Just enough mass to stop the spinning?

 

What a ****ed up way to go. Like being on a run away fare ride or rapidly rotating BBQ. Was that fire or a light flashing underneath in the beginning. What would anyone do in such a mess? I was thinking the same thing, sending something into the spinning mass, or hosing it down although it might suffocate the folks inside.

 

I stopped in at my hanger at CRQ an hour ago do do some work, spoke with one of the line guys at Western , next door to Premier, and we discussed the tragic incident. He said that the helicopter was spinning for about 5 - 6 minuets, before it was finished. We discussed that the flying pilot and passenger were probably severly injured, because there didn't seem to be any attempt to shut down, or reduce power. He agreed, and saw that the windshield and side door glass were heavily blood stained, therefore it seems that both occupants were knocked out or dead, prior to the fire. Tragic.
Gary Bobileff

 

From 10 News:

The pilot who was killed in a bizarre helicopter accident at Palomar Airport Wednesday complained to air traffic controllers that the cart he was trying to land on wasn’t secured.

"They didn’t chock my cart. It was like a skateboard out here,” said Bruce Erickson to air traffic controllers moments before his helicopter began spinning out of control."


Team 10: 'They didn't chock my cart' pilot said moments before helicopter spun out of control - 10News.com KGTV ABC10 San Diego

-mick

 

You can see in the video that the cart looked stationary but that he didn't line the heli onto it enough....he only had a tiny bit of the front of landing skids and when he powered down, the weight of the heli flipped it back to where the tail hit then up again, then hit again shearing the tail rotor and it was all over from there.

Wow.....that video is absolutely crazy.

 

why would you land on a cart?,and not on the ground?

 

Jesus that's ****ed up... condolences to all involved. damn.

Jedi

 

Very scary Condolences to all - But why land on a dolly for any reason ?

 

I'm guessing but it's to move the helicopter quickly and easily to a hangar??

Jedi

 

Appears to be a safe dolly http://www.heliwagon.com/index.php

 

N711BE and cart/dolly in better days...

-mick
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There seems to be No locking mechanism on the wheels
One has really got look at numerous potential hazards in order to try to stay safe