Todos
← Back to Squawk list
Video: Helicopter falls apart on landing in Brazil
Brazil's Regional Service for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents is looking into the reasons why a rescue helicopter disintegrated shortly after landing in the northern state of Para on Wednesday. Officials believe the helicopter experienced what is known as ground resonance, a condition that happens when the aircraft's rotor is working while the helicopter is on the ground. (www.telegraph.co.uk) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Yeah, unfortunately I'm sure the pilot knew that this was way beyond resonant vibration and that pulling collective back into a hover was not gonna solve this problem. There was a MAJOR malfunction in either the main gearbox or possibly a main rotor blade was beginning to delaminate and there was just nothing to do but ride it out. Thank the Lord that this happened on the ground and not in forward cruise at 1,000 agl over a congested city! I've lost some friends before when that occurred!
Another reason to worry...
That looked like ground resonance to me.
I don't know all I need to know about GROUND RESONANCE. I remember HARMONIC RESONANCE back in the early 80's on a lot of railroads with decrepit track, jointed rail and heavy covered hopper cars, in that the rail joints would bend down, start the cars side swaying, and then they would just roll over on their side. I guess this is a similar thing but not something you hear about very often.Has a cause or prevention even been perfected for it?
Used to happen a lot on Army Chinooks back in the 70s-80s. Pilots just picked them ub to break the reaction between the aircraft and the ground and set them back down. seems that I remember it happening mostly when they were in a 2 wheel taxi mode with the front wheels off the ground.
Not sure about you Wayne but ANY helo really scares the chit out of me...just watching them.
I have only flown on one helicopter in my life. I can understand some of the feelings about helos be tricky or even dangerous.
I have heard of this happening before but not lately. I can understand the shaking, same as a harmonic I was referring to, when everything is just right, but as Jerry says here below, I would think you'd just pick it up and set down again. Seems like there are some other factors at work here for it just to shake totally apart like that.
Yeah wayne called...if it ain't broke don't fix it...hahaha...knee jerk distress mauntenance. Take Rolls Royce for instance. They have a whole department set up to monitor real time engine parameters..they try and identify problems early...great idea. Of course many operators pay by the hours flown for a "total package". As the ATSB noted it helps to keep a note of how much oil an engine is using..but Eolls Royce nor Qantas could grasp that fact. How could oil be important when the have a full suite of 50 invigilators trained to monitor engines. Hahahah...
Ground resonance usually happens to helicopters that have a fully articulated rotor system and shock struts(sometimes called oleo struts.)It would happen when the struts were under serviced. The big Sikorsky helicopters of 50's were prone to it until investigator figured out the cause. Rigid and semi-rigid rotor helicopters very seldom experience this condition.