The Dreaded Gulf...

[Over-Talk]

Reddog, I agree with your comment, "Don't y'all think it might not be a good idea to wait for some real info on what happened instead of all this pointless speculation. The reason for this accident may not have anything at all to do with the flying environment. It may be mechanical or human factors or a combination".

Speculation is often pointless, and second-guessing our fallen friends is disrespectful.

But alot of the discussion here was not saying the "flying environment" was the reason for this accident, in fact most comments were looking at a mechanical factor.
But that's where this discussion (not speculation) became important.
The "flying environment" may not have been the cause, but I'm sure it played a big part in the tragic result.

As risk managers we must decide what are the chances that something will go wrong, and how serious the consequences of that failure will be.
Our decision-making on the level and acceptability of risk will change greatly depending on the "flying environment" that the flight occurs in i.e. time-of-day, weather, height above ground (or water) etc.
I rate 100 miles offshore at 2:19am as "high-risk" in the event of a mechanical failure.

I agree, we should let the Accident Investigators try to figure out WHY this accident happened in the hope that it won't happen again. But I think a respectful discussion about WHERE and WHEN this accident happened is healthy and useful to help us decide if we can operate safely in this or any other high-risk "flying environment".

Thoughts anyone ??

 

[407 Driver]

Over-Talk, the thread started out on a general discussion about flying in the Gulf, it was sidetracked into causes of the unfortunate accident.
At no time did I suggest that this was caused by an engine failure. We were certainly talking of what this aircraft would do with OEI though.
It appears to me that a qualified crew with a top notch company like ERA must have suffered something catastrophic to end up as the did.
Prior to this thread, I knew almost nothing about S76's, and thanks to Steve, now I know more.

 

[reddog]

Over Talk,

In the case of a mechanical failure at night where a forced landing / ditching may become neccessary I would think it would be better to be flying 100 miles out over a flat surface (water) with only a few small obstacles (boats) than flying 100 miles out into the bush and/or mountains with all that entails.

Of course, in the case of a catastrophic failure where control is lost or a CFIT accident, what is underneath doesn't really matter.

 

[Nomex]

Agree with 407D, learned a lot about 76's and I'm sure that is the intention in the posts. When I see an accident report with no immediate known cause, all possibilities run thru my mind and usually they contribute to some discussion or a reminder to myself how precious life is and to take extra care in the future or re-read those emergency procedures or limitations....

As long as there is no negative comments or suppositions directed towards the crew, I'm sure they would want something positive to come of this tragedy.

 

[downwash]

Hear, hear! Nice contrast to some of the more negative threads around lately. B)

 

[Rotorhead]

Courtesy of... http://ainonline.com/

Remains Found of All 10 Occupants Killed in S-76A Crash

Searchers have found most of the “extremely fragmentedâ€￾ wreckage of an Era Aviation Sikorsky S-76A that crashed Tuesday night in the Gulf of Mexico about 70 miles south of Galveston, Texas. Rescuers also recovered the remains of the eight passengers and two crewmen. The Turbomeca Arriel-powered, twin turbine helicopter, being operated by Era under contract to Unocal Corp. of Sugar Land, Texas, had intended to fly to a refueling platform and then to an offshore drilling ship.

The pilots were identified as Tim O’Neal, 50 (5,291 hours as a helicopter PIC and nearly 3,900 hours flying in the Gulf), and Donald Janning, 46 (1,930 total hours, 1,372 as a helicopter PIC). Divers also recovered the cockpit voice recorder. According to the NTSB, the day before the accident a 30-hour inspection and a 300-hour inspection on the main rotor blade were accomplished. The 25-hour tail rotor spar inspection and an airworthiness check had been accomplished two hours before the aircraft departed. NTSB records show that Anchorage-based Era Aviation had 18 accidents over the last 10 years, including the fatal crash of a BO-105 in the Gulf of Mexico on Feb. 10, 1996, in which the two pilots died.

 

[407 Driver]

So RotorHead, as an old VFR mountain dog (OK, a young VFR mountain dog?) how DO YOU feel about spending all of your time offshore and (sometimes) at night? When those "situations" occur when you just have to land, do you miss having land below you..even if it's only a Mall on a Sunday AM? 😉

 

[Rotorhead]

Yeah, I've had my share of mechanical incidents lately and the thought has crossed my mind a time or two. I sure do miss the hills, but don't miss the coastal weather when mixed with it. I know of people at many companies that fly low level over the ocean inlets of BC in less than favourable (or legal) weather, in single engine light machines. Sometimes it would just form around you and you were stuck stooging along until you got out of it. That's scary any time of the day. It scared me into leaving a pretty nice place and getting into a more regimented lifestyle where my pay does not depend on my flying hours. Man, if I calculated what I made per flight hour last year... 🙂

Newer iron on the horizon, although newer doesn't always mean more dependable. Expecting avionics snags with the complicated wiring in the new ships.

RH