What I find quite interesting with that image is that people saw it, and just continued walking on. No one running to the scene and jumping into the water to see if they could save someone.
What I find quite interesting with that image is that people saw it, and just continued walking on. No one running to the scene and jumping into the water to see if they could save someone.RIP
Lack of maintenance responsible?
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/helicopter-down-hudson-river/6220675/
Why would random people be running in and then potentially putting themselves in danger?What I find quite interesting with that image is that people saw it, and just continued walking on. No one running to the scene and jumping into the water to see if they could save someone.
If sombody was bobbing and waving for help, yeah maybe. But nobody is swimming in that river for kicks.Why would random people be running in and then potentially putting themselves in danger?
What’s the water temp? How deep is it? How far was it really from shore?What I find quite interesting with that image is that people saw it, and just continued walking on. No one running to the scene and jumping into the water to see if they could save someone.
I am now a retired A&P mechanic, I once as a necessity took a job at a private touring company, I lasted all two weeks. They take short cuts, they push part hours way past their service limits. For those of you who may not know aviation parts are measured by flight hours, not mileage like a car. I will never take a tourist flight of any type, how do the pilots do it I'l never know. One of the many reasons I resigned was when they hired an unlicensed guy who was previously working at an auto parts store, and wanted me to sign off on his "work". This accident I assure you was no accident, greed played a part in it.
22 yrs Army helicopters, OH-58, TH-67 and later TH-57 experience. Taught the Maintenance Test Pilot course for Bell AH-1F Cobra. Mast bumping usually causes separation of the Main Rotor (M/R) hub from the mast. I does not usually pull the entire transmission out. The only thing that does that is excessive mast movement knocking the "candlestick" against it's stops under the XMSN. Watching the initial portion of the video, the aircraft appears to be flying level and cruising. I see no immediate maneuvers or disturbances until the severe yaw event that initiates the tail boom separation. My experiences point to 2 possible causes. The Tail Rotor (T/R) drive shaft hangar bearings on the 206 models (civilian versions of the 56, 57, and 58) are notoriously picky about accepting lubrication. They have been known to discolor and seize with little to no warning. Locking up the T/R drive shaft at the tail boom attach point bearing can cause separation, and the immediate torque due to loss of yaw control/tailboom could cause the whole upper pylon to become dislodged. The other option that comes to mind is pitch control link failure. I had a Cobra do that. When a P/C link fails, the M/R blades, or at least one, are no longer controlled and can easily flail themselves into the tailboom. That applies torque to the XMSN, potentially ripping it out. The fact the blades were still attached to the XMSN is what kept them rotating, like a toy set of blades on a stick. So, while I don't disagree that mast bumping could be a cause, the evidence I see doesn't lend itself to that.
Show less
Certified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic with 14 years/5 different platforms of Helos under my belt. I saw this video on a social media platform. As soon as I saw the fuselage falling, I instantly saw no tailboom attached. My first thought was inflight collision, but quickly realized there's no evidence of that. Second thought was structural failure of some sort. All of the Bell Helicopters I've worked on all been Semi-artuculate rotor heads. I've never once heard of a mast bumping incident resulting in an incident. Doesn't mean it's not possible though. I want to present another possibility from a mechanic point of view. On a larger Bell helicopter, the tailboom had 4 mount bolts that had to get replaced for - Life Limited - exceedance. We would do this during a phase or reset after specific flight hour intervals. If this particular model has a mounting bolt inspection or torque check an improperly installed mounting bolts would be catastrophic event in flight. I personally always thought the design was to simplistic and had no fail-safe design Incase of improper install or fatugue failure. In aviation helicopters have what we call the "Jesus nut". If the torque fails in-flight your praying to Jesus before meeting him. The tailboom bolts are just as important as it connects and supports everything in the tail rotor system. Pray for the innocent children. To many people take aviation safety for granted and don't understand how much effort goes into making airplanes and helicopters fly safe everyday in this country. We call it attention to detail. One small detail can cause a major incident and loss of life in aviation. Pilots have to be perfect, mechanics and ground crew have to be perfect. Mistakes aren't allowed in our industry. Perhaps someone made a mistake, or just structural fatigue. Only inspectors will determine the outcome. I know I sure would like to read the aircraft logbook and see who performed what maintenance. Then interview those mechs.
And freeze his and his families’ bank accounts.Company already shutdown, maybe they should seize company owner's passport?
I get that he doesn't like them playing the blame game. And correlation does not equal causation. However, firing the ATCs being followed by an increase in air traffic accidents seems more like "where there is smoke there is fire" than random coincidence. Actions have consequences.
Being concise is important. Are you saying fewer accidents compared to the first 3-4 months of last year or for the entire year? We want to keep it apples to apples. What is the source for the data?but apparently there are actually fewer air traffic accidents this year than last.
Being concise is important. Are you saying fewer accidents compared to the first 3-4 months of last year or for the entire year? We want to keep it apples to apples. What is the source for the data?
According to this Reuters report I have been gaslit about the firings; none of the ATCs were included. The issue is the cuts will exacerbate the staffing shortages. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fa...workers-transportation-chief-says-2025-02-18/
They should. I see jail time coming. - https://www.king5.com/article/news/...rash/507-ca523e90-278b-4cfa-91e0-72ef723db66eAnd freeze his and his families’ bank accounts.
Sunday, the Director of Operations for New York Helicopter, Jason Costello, agreed in a phone call and email to cease flights until the investigation was complete, the letter states.
But minutes later, it says, the company’s CEO Michael Roth sent an email to the FAA saying Costello didn’t have authority to do that and he was “no longer an employee of NY Helicopter.”
“The immediate firing of the Director of Operations raises serious safety concerns because it appears Mr. Roth retaliated against Mr. Costello for making the safety decision to cease operations during the investigations,” the FAA said in the letter.