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Started By
Message
re: Three LSU Phi Mu's die in helicopter crash with billionaire Chris Cline
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:32 am to 777Tiger
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:32 am to 777Tiger
As I said earlier, my dad befriended many of the pilots he met through the years working offshore.
He arranged for my brother and I as kids to join him at Intracoastal City for a joy ride with one. It was a routine maintenance flight, where they auto-rotate, etc.
He was ex-Vietnam pilot. Best ride of my life. It was something called an Alouette (sp?) Just over the tops of trees like Magnum PI, banking left and right with the only thing b/w you and the ground the bubble.
But that freefall was incredible.
He arranged for my brother and I as kids to join him at Intracoastal City for a joy ride with one. It was a routine maintenance flight, where they auto-rotate, etc.
He was ex-Vietnam pilot. Best ride of my life. It was something called an Alouette (sp?) Just over the tops of trees like Magnum PI, banking left and right with the only thing b/w you and the ground the bubble.
But that freefall was incredible.
This post was edited on 7/8/19 at 10:34 am
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:35 am to JudgeHolden
quote:
Pics of recovered wreckage in this article
different bird than the one in pics earlier in thread, but looks like the pic of the one IDd later in the thread as Cline's
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:40 am to 777Tiger
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:42 am to JudgeHolden
This post was edited on 7/8/19 at 10:48 am
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:54 am to TigersSEC2010
Those pics are tough to look at. That was violent impact for sure.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 10:56 am to JudgeHolden
quote:
More wreckage photos here. (You have to scroll down).
was really assuming that it was a charted helicopter, now that it appears to have been Cline's bird it opens up a whole new avenue of speculation
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:04 am to 777Tiger
looks exactly like an air logistics helo, I saw them pull up from off the LA coast in 1989. tail rotor disintegrated at low altitude. hit the water very hard 2 survivors.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:08 am to Traveler
quote:
That was violent impact for sure.
of course it was, all on board lost their lives, but there was probably additional damage while the helicopter was in the sea, submerged vessels take a pretty good beating from waves and currents
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:10 am to 777Tiger
quote:
submerged vessels take a pretty good beating from waves and currents
That is worth considering. There apparently was a helicopter crash within the past few years in which the wreckage was pushed into very deep water by tides and currents.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:14 am to 777Tiger
I guess that was just stating the obvious. It would not have mattered if emergency floats were installed or not. A lot of questions to be answered.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:18 am to Traveler
quote:
I guess that was just stating the obvious.
I didn't mean that in a "no shite Sherlock" tone, was just acknowledging what you said and adding the part about additional damage, the ocean can really do a number on a sunken boat or aircraft in a short time
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:19 am to 777Tiger
Oh no, that was not my reaction at all. Your downvote came from elsewhere. It's all good.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:23 am to 777Tiger
I flew offshore with Hugh Thompson. There was a Viet Namese pilot with PHI named Zoomie. One time after crossing the beach we hit a fog bank and we could barely see a red light ahead and below. Zoomie dropped down in the fog at the light. It was the water tower in Montegut. He got his bearings and we went on to the Placid Oil dock.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:33 am to Bigfishchoupique
I know people said it could hold 12 people, but that doesn't look big enough for 12?
I'm curious if maybe they had a weight issue? I could easily see them having crap on the helicopter from something else and in a hurry so no time to remove it. Add the 5 passengers and likely other stuff, and be too heavy?
Maybe they tried to turn around and that's when they crashed?
I'm curious if maybe they had a weight issue? I could easily see them having crap on the helicopter from something else and in a hurry so no time to remove it. Add the 5 passengers and likely other stuff, and be too heavy?
Maybe they tried to turn around and that's when they crashed?
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:42 am to baldona
quote:
I'm curious if maybe they had a weight issue? I could easily see them having crap on the helicopter from something else and in a hurry so no time to remove it. Add the 5 passengers and likely other stuff, and be too heavy?
I think it carried at least nine as configured. It would not have been that heavy on fuel as it had just flown in from the mainland. And on a cool night over the ocean you wouldn't have much of a pressure altitude issue.
My WAG has leaned toward pilot disorientation over the water at night compounded by an emergency situation and pressure from the boss. Based on what I am reading about this pilot, he was extremely experienced, extremely professional, and very recent in nighttime overwater IFR. So I am leaning differently now.
So my guess, still a WAG at best, is a slight tail rotor strike on landing, followed by catastrophic failure after takeoff while low and slow. That would fit the observed damage from the wreckage. And if it occurred at low altitude and low airspeed, it would be uncontrollable.
This post was edited on 7/8/19 at 11:45 am
Posted on 7/8/19 at 11:55 am to Tester1216
quote:
Y’all are really making me reconsider my heli tour of the Grand Canyon.
I've taken that trip from the Vegas Strip. Awesome trip, but I puked 3 times. I think I was hungover and the guy was giving us a ride over and down some of those ridges. Those poor people on the trip with us
Posted on 7/8/19 at 12:14 pm to Chucktown_Badger
quote:
I think I was hungover and the guy was giving us a ride over and down some of those ridges.
I don’t think I want to go now. I can barely ride in a car without getting sick.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 2:26 pm to JudgeHolden
lots of talk about a steep banking turn to port right after the take off is when the accident probably happened
Maybe made the turn and was lower than he realized and clipped the water?
Maybe made the turn and was lower than he realized and clipped the water?
Posted on 7/8/19 at 2:37 pm to supatigah
quote:
lots of talk about a steep banking turn to port right after the take off is when the accident probably happened
There was a lot of talk about the difference between civilian trained and military trained helo pilots on a forum I read.
The Cliffs are that civilian pilots are trained to hover to altitude and then tip the nose down for speed. That works great in civilian life, but if you are a military pilot, it just makes you an unmoving, highly visible target. So military pilots tend to go nose down and speed before gaining altitude.
I have zero idea whether any of this is true. But it made a lot of sense.
Posted on 7/8/19 at 2:49 pm to supatigah
(no message)
This post was edited on 7/8/19 at 2:50 pm
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