I'm sure by now you have all heard of the Bell 206 tourist helicopter that went down in the Hudson River last week. A tragedy, and I'm sure that the NTSB will eventually figure it out.
Captain Steve follows it here.
Here is a short reel that everyone has seen.
I'm no pilot, but it looks like the transmission came out of the damned thing. That is both catastrophic and unrecoverable. I've never flown in one of those, but I did spend a little time in the Army's version when I was playing those silly games. I always considered the OH-58 to be a damned fine helicopter.
As it turns out, a good friend of mine is tuned in to the helicopter maintenance community. I haven't had a chance to pick his brains yet, but as soon as I get the chance, I will.
3 comments:
Most of us had never heard of a mast bump before this crash. Now that I know a bit, and that certain wind conditions and flight angles can cause the rotor blades to bend downwards… I will never ever get in a helicopter. Not until they lower the tail boom well past the maximum possible rotor deflection.
Apparently the company is now 'out of business'... Yep, massive main rotor failure.
The main rotor did not fail. Juan Browne has covered this, and videos show the main rotor, mast. and transmission departing the helo as one, in flight, and auto-rotating down. The NTSB has recovered the wreckage, and the rotor, mast, and transmission are still together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHg0l0v3t5c
I suspect a transmission seizure.
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