Helicopter Crashes in Grand Canyon

[applegrove]

Last edited Sun Feb 11, 2018, 01:11 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/10/us/grand-canyon-helicopter-crash/index.html?adkey=bn

"SNIP......


(CNN)Three people died when a helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon Saturday, police confirmed to CNN.

"At approximately 5:20 p.m. (7:20 p.m. ET) a Papillon Airways EC-130 vessel carrying a pilot and six passengers was reported to have crashed near Quartermaster Canyon, within the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Nation," police chief Francis E. Bradley Sr. of the Hualapai reservation said.

"Three passengers are confirmed deceased and there are four level 1 trauma patients at the scene," Bradley said.

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer earlier said the aircraft sustained considerable damage in the crash.

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[Nac Mac Feegle]

1. Scary, I've been in those helicopters

I have a WEIRD job.
It occasionally involves flying into the Grand Canyon and landing at various locations to work on equipment.

Usually, it's the Park Service MD900, but if there are problems, or it's in use, we have an EC130 from Papillon.

The EC130 is a single engine bird, while the MD900 has dual engines. The increased capacity of the 900 is better for cargo and long-line work.

Something that a lot of people don't understand is that the South Rim is approximately 7000 feet, 2KM, above sea level. The air is much thinner. This requires a lot more out of the craft, it also limits the weight the craft can work. Temperature also affects the density of the air, warmer air is less dense, limiting the lift available.

Sometimes the pilot of a 'heavy' bird has to use the updrafts on the face of the Canyon wall to get enough lift to go over the top on a warm day.

The upshot of this is that there are a lot of ways something can go wrong.

Each flight starts out with a 10 minute safety lecture and instructions of what to do in an emergency. There's a reason for that. This is why.

This is a situation where thought and prayers are definitely in order.

When something goes wrong, a LOT of very skilled and highly trained people go into intense action. They deserve our best wishes, too. Going after a crash scene to rescue victims is not an easy undertaking. Stuff like this almost invariably happens in places that are very difficult and dangerous to get to.

This will be a very large rescue and recovery operation, involving a very large number of people an equipment.

[applegrove]

3. I'll never forget when the rescue helicopter on Mount Everest went back down the

mountain a bit, got rid of seats, then flew back up to one of the base camps to rescue people. Was in a movie. I also remember working in a tea house in Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Some of our supplies came up by helicopter. That was at 7 000 plus feet. One of the guys I worked with asked the pilot how he got into such a job (rescuing people, emptying outhouses, flying up supplies to cabins). He said he was lucky enough, or unlucky enough, to get drafted into Vietnam and learnt to fly then. I guess after Vietnam, Mountain rescue flying is easy. Very brave. One time at the tea house as he was hovering near us, a family of tourists ran outside with cameras to photograph him 30 feet away. I ran after them, grabbed them by the shirts and ushered them back inside. I got a big thumbs up from the pilot for doing that. I can see how easily someone could fall in love with flying even though it is so dangerous. It is so dramatic. I flew in one once around the CN Tower in Toronto. A helicopter crashed 50 yards off the dock at my parent's cottage. It was going around an island and hit a power line and that was it. Thankfully i was not there. Takes a special kind of person to do such dangerous work.

Vibes to the victims and their families.

[StarryNite]

4. Thank you for giving us that insight.

[applegrove]

5. You are right on. Going to be really hard to get those victims out.

[marybourg]

2. I seem to remember something like this

maybe 30 years ago. What a difficult recovery this is going to be, four level 1 trauma patients from the bottom of the canyon!