snark

Yes you are correct, I'm not trying to deflect the blame to the clients or customers. I believe there are factors that led to the incident though that allowed that situation to develop. The management should be held accountable for allowing that behavior in the aircraft, but as well the job site should be reviewed for factors that also allowed that style of flying to develop. It can't be the first time a thrill ride maneuver was completed on the job site, and I would guess the pilot on this one wasn't the first to perform such a maneuver so it does become a Norm and when that happens your risk goes way up. If this had not led to a serious accident and almost taken the lives of 7 people, would he be flying that machine on that job site after his free drinks that night? You bet he would be. It's really easy to blame an individual in this industry and we do it all the time. The pilot absolutely should have known better, but its easy to get blinders on and become comfortable when bad practices become Norms and SOP's. I don't think this accident is 100% the pilots fault, there were factors and issues that allowed him to find himself in that situation. Take those away and this wouldn't happen.

What are the pressures faced by the pilot on a heli-ski job when there is an expectation of a certain style of flight as part of the "Experience" for the customer? Its easy to blame the pilot straight out, but I think there are a lot of other factors involved to allow this to happen. Customers rarely know when they are being exposed to risk, and when acceptance of risk becomes a Norm there may be no checks in place to prevent the thin line between "Experience" for the customer and accident from being crossed. It does seem to clearly be a pilot decision issue, but that can't be the only reason this happened.

CADORS: Report Record # 1 CADORS Number: 2016P0400 Occurrence Category(ies): Loss of control - inflight Unknown or undetermined Occurrence Information Occurrence Type: Accident Occurrence Date: 2016-03-16 Occurrence Time: 2300 Z Day Or Night: day-time Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Canadian Aerodrome ID: Aerodrome Name: Occurrence Location: 82NM NW SMITHERS BC (CYYD) Province: British Columbia TC Region: Pacific Region Country: Canada World Area: North America Reported By: Transportation Safety Board of Canada AOR Number: TSB Class Of Investigation: Class 5 TSB Occurrence No: A16P0045 Occurrence Event Information Aircraft Information Registration Mark: FBLW Foreign Registration: Flight #: Flight Rule: UNK Aircraft Category: Helicopter Country of Registration: Canada Make: AEROSPATIALE Model: AS 350 BA Year Built: 1996 Amateur Built: No Engine Make: AVCO LYCOMING Engine Model: LTS-101-700D-2 Engine Type: Turbo shaft Gear Type: Land Phase of Flight: Landing Damage: Substantial Owner: TRK Helicopters (B.C.) Ltd. Operator: TRK HELICOPTERS (B.C.) LTD (15044) Operator Type: Commercial CARs Subpart: 703 Aircraft Event Information Loss of control - inflight Collision with terrain Occurrence Summary Date Entered: 2016-03-31 Narrative: TSB#A16P0045: C-FBLW, a TRK Helicopters Aerospatiale AS350 BA helicopter, was operated under contract to SKEENA Heli-Ski from the Bear Creek Lodge, BC, about 82 nautical miles north west of Smithers, BC. The flight was returning to base camp in the late afternoon with a pilot and 6 passengers on board. As the pilot was maneuvering the helicopter close to the steepening terrain, the cyclic control was moved forward. The nose of the helicopter pitched down and the speed increased to Vne (+/-). The pilot then moved the cyclic back and left, however the helicopter rolled right and pitched up. The cyclic stick was difficult to move, and the helicopter collided with terrain on a steep snow covered slope. The main rotor blades cut a swath through the deep snowpack on the left side, and continued to turn until the pilot shut down the engine (Honeywell LTS 101-700D-2) and applied the rotor brake. All occupants appeared uninjured and expedited egress to the left side due to the steep, downhill slope on the right side. The helicopter was substantially damaged, but the ELT was not triggered to send out an emergency signal. O.P.I.: Further Action Required: No Please note that for the most part, CADORS reports contain preliminary, unconfirmed data which can be subject to change I'm surprised everyone lived thru this. Thankfully doesn't look like any major injuries. VNE +/- is an odd airspeed?

Make sure you have the yellow temp plates with the black lines per the ASB to install them. I believe the 204's and 205's have a lower temp yellow indicator without black lines and they will go off continually if installed in a 206 instead of the correct ones.

No, your so wrong there. Its actually so funny one could piss ones self every time it would be thought about.

Its all experience with painting. No real courses offered anywhere as far as I know. A local Autobody course at a college is your best bet. Don't count on a 3 day to a week long course getting you anything other than disapointment in finish if you have never laid a whole pile of coats before. A good painter is worth hiring if you have never sprayed and don't have the guns, experience, or facilities. Check the MSDS on imron and you'll find it alot like taking a bath in MEK mixed with Mastinox. Know what you are doing with it, or you will rapidly develop painters cough and damage your lungs forever. Its not a bad idea to accomplish all the body work and have a the item then sprayed in a correct facility by experienced people trained in aircraft requirements. Done incorrectly is not going to last past a year or two. Imron is thick, you will need to reduce as well to reduce/ remove orange peel, and its one of the least friendly to work with. Reducing will make you non- compliant with VOC's as well, although aircraft are exempt from VOC regulations, some facilities still won't spray unless in full compliance, which meens thicker paint and more possible issues. Learning from a skilled person is the best bet when dealing with paint, it will keep you from spitting all sorts of green stuff out of your lungs, and it will take years to get decent, not weeks.

Its all required equipment when PIC with either STC for Bell mediums for L/H drive, in addition to the SI for installing duals. Bell probably meets the requirement for instruments and gages for each pilot station and then the STC may or may not add gages and switches to meet compliance with TCCA regulations and expectations. Passengers or no passengers PIC. AC 500-021 Issue 1 lists the required equipment availiable for alternate side drive for normal and transport category rotorcraft, generic, but it is the unofficial list for companies applying for change in PIC location. The STC for Bell mediums will need to comply with this AC for STC certification: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/certification/guidance-500-500-021-1303.htm

The answer comes under the standard for which the type certificate was issued. In the 204/ 205 case it is the Transport Category of Rotorcraft in the CAR's Standards. : 529.1302 Reserved 529.1303 Flight and Navigation Instruments The following are required flight and navigational instruments: (a) an airspeed indicator. For Category A rotorcraft with VNE less than a speed at which unmistakable pilot cues provide overspeed warning, a maximum allowable airspeed indicator shall be provided. If maximum allowable airspeed varies with weight, altitude, temperature or r.p.m., the indicator shall demonstrate that variation; a sensitive altimeter; © a magnetic direction indicator; (d) a clock displaying hours, minutes and seconds with a sweep second pointer or digital presentation; (e) a free-air temperature indicator; (f) a non-tumbling gyroscopic bank and pitch indicator; - THIS ONE (g) a gyroscopic rate-of-turn indicator combined with an integral slip-skid indicator (turn-and-bank indicator) except only a slip-skid indicator is required on rotorcraft with a third attitude instrument system that: (1) is useable through flight attitudes of ±80 degrees of pitch and ±120 degrees of roll; (2) is powered from a source independent of the electrical generating system; (3) continues reliable operation for a minimum of 30 minutes after total failure of the electrical generating system; (4) operates independently of any other attitude indicating system; (5) is operative without selection after total failure of the electrical generating system; (6) is located on the instrument panel in a position acceptable to the Minister that will make it plainly visible to and useable by any pilot at his station; and (7) is appropriately lighted during all phases of operation; (h) a gyroscopic direction indicator; (i) a rate-of-climb (vertical speed) indicator; (j) for Category A rotorcraft, a speed warning device when VNE is less than the speed at which unmistakable overspeed warning is provided by other pilot cues. The speed warning device shall give effective aural warning (differing distinctively from aural warnings used for other purposes) to the pilots whenever the indicated speed exceeds VNE plus 3 knots and shall operate satisfactorily throughout the approved range of altitudes and temperatures. In Short, yes. you need one. It has to be factory installed unless you have an STC to swap it, it has to be working, and although there is a provision in CAR's 605 or 625 somewhere about removing U/S equipment for up to 30 days without an aircraft weight and balance change it would not apply because the 204/ 205 was initially certified with a working indicator, so is not deferable unless you have a TC approved MEL for your specific operations. If you don't have the original installed it is as good as not having one without an STC for the change. Transport Canada inspectors should know this. I also believe that one is required for each pilot station, and in the 204/ 205, that means two installed, factory, working indicators.

Mabey check out 1D1 M/M 79-00-00-870-801-A01, Oil system operation figure 3. Freewheel lubricated by oil jet # 18, pressure supplied by engine oil pump. Its not separate, I hate seeing people quote stuff as fact without knowing for sure.

So what does lubricate the freewheel in a 350 then? Its sure not the transmission oil as is done in BHT products as there are no external lines run between the two.

I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. I want to be the first one with a blimp rating! And not the type you get from local pubs.....ewwww.....

I agree wih JC.....Mabey you should'nt stop in for a chuckle. Probably best to never mention it again......

Well Done Brad, you run a good respectable buisness. Look forward to dealing with you in the future.

Sounds touchy-feely, and likely to put anyone in non-conformance for having a license in the first place. I hope one day to see a real set duty day for an engineer. This is the hours you can work, during this time. Beyond that get more personnel. probably won't ever happen though as too many owners sit on the HAC style lobby boards and complian if they were forced into it they could'nt operate anymore.

We have had problems as well with recently overhauled FCU's. Went thru history and all behave similar from mulitple reputable shops. Brass vs Stainless bellows was the explaination from the fine fellows at Essential Turbines. Very knowledgeable with regards to C20R's. They explained to me there is no longer a happy medium due to the new bellows. You can either have a good first start of the day, or good subsequent starts throughout the day. We had been setting the FCU's for a good first start, but the warm starts 860 + TOT gives everyone I know the heeby-Jeebies (Technical for seat cushion sucked into pilots rear). we instead have gone with a poorer start in the morning with a delay of up to 5 seconds between 30-35% n1. First start in the am 30-40 seconds, and surprisingly after turning the TOT effectively down to set for a "warm" or subsequent start our overall start length has decreased to 20-30 seconds, for whatever reason closer to 20. You would think with more TOT would come more coals in the fire to get the hamster moving, but the engines are spooling better with less TOT. Go figure? Long and short you are not alone. C20B's have the same bellows and don't find any abnormal issues with them? Good luck with everything, NOW, How about Governors, anyone getting to 1/2 life without removal?