Helicopter crash in Illinois - deicing problem? | FerrariChat

Helicopter crash in Illinois - deicing problem?

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by m5guy, Dec 11, 2012.

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  1. m5guy

    m5guy Formula 3

    Aug 17, 2008
    1,627
    Ventura, CA.
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    Greg
    Hi Guys, I don't know much about helicopters, but maybe someone who flies them professionally can comment. This morning I got an email from a guy in our Chicago office whose wife is part of the flight crew for the Rockford Memorial Hospital rapid response medical helicopter service in Illinois. Luckily his wife was not on duty last night, but unfortunately her co-workers all perished in the accident. He said that the cause of the crash has been cited as icing, although it is not yet mentioned in the early news reports. Do choppers have de-icing systems or are they at the mercy of a spraydown while sitting on the tarmac?

    Here's the info on the crash:

    7:49AM EST December 11. 2012 - ROCHELLE, Ill. (AP) — Hospital officials say a pilot and two nurses were killed when a medical helicopter crashed in a field while traveling between two northern Illinois hospitals.

    Rockford Memorial Hospital identified those killed as pilot Andy Olson and flight nurses Karen Hollis and Jim Dillow. In a news release Tuesday, officials at Rockford Memorial Hospital say they are grieving for "three heroes who dedicated their careers to serving others."

    No patients were aboard when the helicopter went down Monday night in Rochelle, about 70 miles west of Chicago. A spokesman for the Rockford hospital says its helicopter was flying to pick up a patient at a Mendota hospital.

    Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro says the FAA is helping the National Transportation Safety Board investigate to determine what caused the crash.
     
  2. rovingtravler

    rovingtravler Formula Junior

    Feb 2, 2004
    309
    Clovis, NM
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    David
    I saw the articles about that chopper crash. Glad she was not on it. Most helicopters do NOT have De-ice and icing is much worse than a plane as the blades are smaller than wings and traveling faster.

    Most not all Military helicopter have de-ice, but you still never want to use it. Depending on weight in the Blackhawk you can lose a hundred feet or more before the ice sheds from the blades.

    The scariest thing I have ever done is flly a max gross weight Hawk in icing. As the ice builds you have to increase the collective (similar to adding power or stepping on the gas) until maxed out. Then we started losing altitude about -500 feet later we shot through the roof as this horrible noise happens; it is the ice shedding and the blades pull the chopper up. You have to quickly lower the collective and it starts all over again.


    At low altitude it is hard to recover from, however, it is a slow process. If trained on IFR or icing the pilot should have realized what was happening and set the helicopter down. If not he might not have realized it until it was too late. I thought he might have clipped wires as that is one of the biggest reasons for domestic crashes.
     
  3. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    Nov 30, 2003
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    Toggie (Ron)
    #3 toggie, Dec 12, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    RIP for that rescue helicopter crew.
    - Pilot Andy Olesen, 65.
    - Flight Nurse Jim Dillow, R.N., 40.
    - Flight Nurse Karen Hollis, R.N., 48.

    They were on their way between two hospitals to pick up a patient.
    Sad to lose such good people.
    .
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  4. m5guy

    m5guy Formula 3

    Aug 17, 2008
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    Greg
    Ron, thanks for posting their pictures. While talking to our guy in Chicago today (John), he told me Andy Olesen was just a few months away from retiring. John's wife had flown with Andy for 9 years and they never had any problems in flight. Andy had an excellent safety record and that gave the crew a tremendous amount of confidence and security on every flight. The entire hospital staff is stunned over this loss and it comes at a particularly tough time (holidays) for the families of the 3 deceased crew members.

    Today I said a prayer for every emergency response team that puts their life in danger to help others. When something like this happens, there is no amount of money in the world that can bring these people back to life and home to their families.

    -Greg
     
  5. phrogs

    phrogs F1 Veteran
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    Apr 13, 2004
    7,346
    Kzoo Michigan
    I know my helicopters have no ani Ice for the rotor heads or blades so you must watch out for icing conditions.

    I'm flying in afghanistan up north at high altitudes yeah!
     
  6. Chupacabra

    Chupacabra F1 Rookie
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    Sep 30, 2005
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    Medevac flying is dangerous business. Kudos to the folks who do it almost every day.

    This will be a rough Christmas for their families, and I'll keep them in my thoughts.

    RIP.
     
  7. cheesey

    cheesey Formula 3

    Jun 23, 2011
    1,921
    it's hard to say NO in maginal weather, especially in medical emergency... in any type of aircraft... a couple degrees change in temp could have made it a no go or a flight with a better result
     
  8. m5guy

    m5guy Formula 3

    Aug 17, 2008
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    #8 m5guy, Dec 13, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2012
    John or David (Phrogs & rovngtravler):

    I have to be careful what I post here because this is a public forum and there is an ongoing FAA investigation.

    Let's say hypothetically you are flying at night or in low light conditions, your helicopter is not equipped with night vision glasses, and you encounter light snow. Other than turning around and going back to an area where the weather is acceptable for visual meteorological conditions, is there anything else you are trained to do as standard operating procedure?

    I am a working on my private pilot's license in fixed wing aircraft, so I am asking questions just to learn more about the differences between planes and helicopters. I am NOT questioning any of the decisions made by the pilot, who, by all accounts, had a significant amount of experience.

    -Greg
     
  9. phrogs

    phrogs F1 Veteran
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    Apr 13, 2004
    7,346
    Kzoo Michigan
    You would go IFR and hope your close to a airport and they can pick you up and direct you in to land. Also go as high as you need to to avoid obsticales.


    We never fly without NVG's we always have them with us even if we are taking off at 6 am. Either High Light or Low Light

    And I have encountered some crazy weather that came in on a flight once when I was in Kosovo, the clouds just dropped into the valley we were in, it was wicked how fast it happened, we turned around and went right back to the LZ we left landed and shut down, ended up being in some verycold weather hanging out in out chopper for 5 days, it sucked.

    but my flying has always been military based and I am not a pilot I am a crew chief/gunner
     
  10. rovingtravler

    rovingtravler Formula Junior

    Feb 2, 2004
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    Clovis, NM
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    David
    Sorry I have not been around for a while. As state go back via IFR i.e. pop up to altitude and call tower, approach, center etc.

    Or do What I have done land in the closest field in peace time.

    Stay safe over there!
     

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