EC-135 Hard Landing

[Griz882]

Ouch! Tough way to make the news as a helicopter driver! Glad all involved got out OK.

Baby and 3 Others Survive After Medical Helicopter Crashes Outside Delco Church

A medical helicopter carrying an infant patient to a Philadelphia hospital crashed Tuesday afternoon next to a church in a densely populated residential neighborhood in Delaware County, Pa.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

By all reports the crew did an excellent job getting it down in a built up, urban environment.

 

[ChuckMK23]

Ouch! Tough way to make the news as a helicopter driver! Glad all involved got out OK.

Baby and 3 Others Survive After Medical Helicopter Crashes Outside Delco Church

A medical helicopter carrying an infant patient to a Philadelphia hospital crashed Tuesday afternoon next to a church in a densely populated residential neighborhood in Delaware County, Pa.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

By all reports the crew did an excellent job getting it down in a built up, urban environment.

H145 - curious as to what happened. Looks like a fair amount of airmanship involved getting it down in a way that everyone walked away!

 

[Gatordev]

H145 - curious as to what happened. Looks like a fair amount of airmanship involved getting it down in a way that everyone walked away!

It's a -135, but it is an interesting placement of the airframe, especially when it looks like power lines are still up. I wonder if they came down and then slid under the lines onto the steps instead of coming down in that little pocket on to the steps. I'd be interested to hear what got them down that quickly.

 

[Griz882]

It's a -135, but it is an interesting placement of the airframe, especially when it looks like power lines are still up. I wonder if they came down and then slid under the lines onto the steps instead of coming down in that little pocket on to the steps. I'd be interested to hear what got them down that quickly.

Video looks like an LTE issue…but I am certainly guessing. The local news says he went for an intersection and slid into the church.

 

[Gatordev]

Video looks like an LTE issue…but I am certainly guessing. The local news says he went for an intersection and slid into the church.

Do you have a link to the video? I haven't seen that.

Whatever the actual reason was, it's an interesting thought experiment to think through why it would be LTE. The only real reason I can come up with would be either a transmission issue (need to get down fast, that road was the only place, and the tranny starts crapping out on the transition) or maybe fuel contamination so both engines die/are dying. But if he lost one engine already, or was worried he was about to, it seems like there should be more wire damage from a run-on landing. Then again, there are a lot of -135 pilots that don't have much multi-engine experience, so maybe that thought process wouldn't happen.

It's also interesting that a flight suit is hanging from the pitot tube. I haven't quite figured out why one would take off their flight suit in the winter when they weren't already in the ambulance.

 

[Griz882]

Do you have a link to the video? I haven't seen that.

Whatever the actual reason was, it's an interesting thought experiment to think through why it would be LTE. The only real reason I can come up with would be either a transmission issue (need to get down fast, that road was the only place, and the tranny starts crapping out on the transition) or maybe fuel contamination so both engines die/are dying. But if he lost one engine already, or was worried he was about to, it seems like there should be more wire damage from a run-on landing. Then again, there are a lot of -135 pilots that don't have much multi-engine experience, so maybe that thought process wouldn't happen.

It's also interesting that a flight suit is hanging from the pitot tube. I haven't quite figured out why one would take off their flight suit in the winter when they weren't already in the ambulance.

You can see it here at about 1:00 minute in.

 

[Gatordev]

I found another one here: https://6abc.com/video-of-helicopter-crash-chopper-caught-on-medical-delaware-county/11459430/

You can hear the rotors hit something, so maybe he did tag a wire. It's an interesting view. Very curious to hear what the cause was.

BTW, splitting this to its own thread.

 

[IKE]

The H-145 is a clockwise rotator. I assume the H-135 is too, so I wouldn't expect a right turn during LTE.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I found another one here: https://6abc.com/video-of-helicopter-crash-chopper-caught-on-medical-delaware-county/11459430/

You can hear the rotors hit something, so maybe he did tag a wire. It's an interesting view. Very curious to hear what the cause was.

BTW, splitting this to its own thread.

looks like the driver in the video went right over to help when he saw what happened.

 

[Gatordev]

The H-145 is a clockwise rotator. I assume the H-135 is too, so I wouldn't expect a right turn during LTE.

The -135 has a western rotor rotation, like we're all used to, even if they call it "anti-clockwise." So it will go right in LTE. The question is: why would it be LTE in that situation. Obviously we don't know if that's the question or what the answer is.

Also, many -145's rotate conventionally. Perhaps you were in some other version, but the German versions of the EC aircraft (EC-135 and -145) often follow the conventional model, unlike the French versions, such as the -120/125/AS300. I'm not sure what the EC-130 does.

 

[IKE]

The -135 has a western rotor rotation, like we're all used to, even if they call it "anti-clockwise." So it will go right in LTE. The question is: why would it be LTE in that situation. Obviously we don't know if that's the question or what the answer is.

Also, many -145's rotate conventionally. Perhaps you were in some other version, but the German versions of the EC aircraft (EC-135 and -145) often follow the conventional model, unlike the French versions, such as the -120/125/AS300. I'm not sure what the EC-130 does.

I could just be remembering the TPS EC-145 wrong(ly). Don't ruin my pedantic posting with pesky facts.
I know the 135/145 descended from the German CCW BO-105, but I thought the French Aerospatiale team infected the newest aircraft with their Vichyssoise CW rotation.

 

[ChuckMK23]

I could just be remembering the TPS EC-145 wrong(ly). Don't ruin my pedantic posting with pesky facts.
I know the 135/145 descended from the German CCW BO-105, but I thought the French Aerospatiale team infected the newest aircraft with their Vichyssoise CW rotation.

Many hours in the BO-105 and BK-117. Rotor and associated pedal are normal. Flew the AS350 during the NTH trials at Cairns and NDZ - it was 'unnatural'

 

[thump]

I could just be remembering the TPS EC-145 wrong(ly). Don't ruin my pedantic posting with pesky facts.
I know the 135/145 descended from the German CCW BO-105, but I thought the French Aerospatiale team infected the newest aircraft with their Vichyssoise CW rotation.

Almost positive the TPS birds are CCW. I definitely remember flying CW for the first time during the Empire field trip and thinking it was a trip but also not that big a deal.

 

[Gatordev]

I know the 135/145 descended from the German CCW BO-105, but I thought the French Aerospatiale team infected the newest aircraft with their Vichyssoise CW rotation.

I think there's some French influence here and there (like the Finnestron), but the single-biggest influence I've noticed is the AFM, which was written in German, converted to French, and then translated to English. I'm convinced that's why you "Vent" the engines instead of motor them. Crazy Frogs.

 

[jmcquate]

When I saw this, I thought a Rivet Joint had a bad day.