Chopper down - Lake eyre

[viewfromright]

Not good news this morning!

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-18/abc-helicopter-crashes-at-lake-eyre/2845962

 

 

[Friarpuk]

I awoke to the news and immediately felt sick. I owe much to cammeraman John Bean for teaching me the craft which set me up well for a 13 year career as a television cameraman/editor. Hanging out the door of a chopper with a camera was a rush. These days I have given up the camera in favour of the ordained ministry but still love flying. Although these days it's a fixed wing Skyranger. My condolences to his wife and family!

 

Friarpuk

 

 

[Spin]

Another tragic loss - I'd particularly enjoyed previous ABC documentaries on Lake Eyre. RIP

 

A niggle in the back of my mind following last night's newscast though - what time would last light have been in that part of the country?

 

 

[Thirsty]

Very sad indeed. The pilot had many years and many hours of experience so to me it seems like it could possibly have been mechanical failure. I guess time will tell. Very upsetting for the families for sure.

 

 

[Mazda]

I too felt an awful sinking feeling as I knew Gary Ticehurst. It is a very tragic loss.

 

May they all rest in peace.

 

 

[Friarpuk]

Not having flow over Lake Eyer my self, I've spoken to plenty who have, and many have testified to the difficulty of seeing the horizon. Some have said it's even more difficult to do during daylight hours when there are a heap of other planes about too! I guess the ATSB might shed more light on the accident in coming weeks.

 

 

[Spin]

Spot on Friarpuk, the reported take off time concerned me from the outset and even though the prelim report says take off was about 19:00 local time rather than 19:30 originally reported, that is still about 40 minutes after the end of twilight and well before moonrise. Very experienced pilot and well equipped aircraft notwithstanding, any little distraction in the cockpit could have been enough, especially in a helicopter. Sad; I dug through my hard drive yesterday and watched a previous Lake Eyre doco by these guys - I wonder whether they had captured enough footage and if so whether it survived; a follow on doco would be a good memorial for them.

 

 

[turboplanner]

The helicopter was equipped to fly at night. A guy with helicopter camera/TV production experience has put a good theory on prune which makes a lot of sense.

 

 

[Friarpuk]

The helicopter was equipped to fly at night. A guy with helicopter camera/TV production experience has put a good theory on prune which makes a lot of sense.

Not sure what you mean?

But yep ABC choppers have all the bells and whistles for flying just about 24/7. Apparently the haze over lake Eyer is quite bad at low levels, making the horizon near invisible in the daytime, let alone the night. But fwiw I'm guessing the accident it will have occurred due to catastrophic falure of the chopper or the pilot's health while in flight. Not to preempt the investigation. Must go! Time to don the clergy garb!

 

 

[turboplanner]

You did Dex, they said it went behind a hill then there was a big ball of fire (when they hit)

 

Here it is Friar:

 

http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-general-aviation-questions/461150-abc-helicopter-crash-near-lake-eyre-3.html

 

Mickjoebill #44, #45 talks about what can go wrong with camera equipment, and the impact on this flight of a rear door camera position.

 

 

[Spin]

Interestingly at #55, the same bloke goes on to say;

 

Not forgetting loss of control due to foreign objects fouling cyclic, pedals or collective, which (rarely) has been the cause of aerial filming accidents and even more rare when the cameraman is in the backseat.

 

Even in transit mode and at night, there are many reasons for laptops, PDAs and cameras to be operated and wielded around in this mobile office/TV studio.

 

Another (remote) possibility is compromising the pilot's night vision by the accidental activation of a TV light. Such lights are used in cockpit to illuminate the reporter and modern versions are dimmable and can be very bright to balance the shadowed interior to the high light intensity of daylight.

 

I'm hoping it is a bird strike.

 

Mickjoebill

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

Didn't look like there was much left to sift through and figure this out.