Dropped Drill

[Jet B]

Drills don't get dropped, they get "placed firmly on the ground"...

 

You know, swinging 3000 lbs. drills in the mountains is tough, dangerous work.

 

All you can ever do is your best possible. Sooner or later things go wrong and something might get dropped. At the end of the day, as long as no-one got hurt or killed, then it really wasn't that big of a deal now was it?

 

Just trying to put things in perspective.

[twinstar_ca]

OT, 407D, RH, and JB, amen to all of that... :up:

 

amazing how the posts around here seem to drop as soon as someone slags...

 

those who think it's fun to sit back and watch the fur fly should take note...

[Blackmac]

A/R, why not call the source, Yellowhead?????

 

Twinnie, you have the option of shutting down threads that are of little value, except rumour mongering, even if it is true.

 

If they did, so what, shyte happens, except to perfect people.

 

Don

[Rotorwing]

OK, Those of you that HAVE never or WILL NEVER drop anything, please raise your hands now.

Well said 407 Driver, While we are at it what is the most expensive thing you have dropped or witnesed being dropped.

Mine was 600 gal fuel tank full of fuel, but have witnessed a far more expensive load spread across the gound after it's departure from the helicopter

[bleed air]

Holy Smokes! Amazing how word gets around isn't it? I guess I'm guilty as charged there, A/R. What's it like to be perfect? Although I might be going out on a limb in a public forum such as this, I've added the meat and potatoes of the incident report that I submitted to our CASO for the benefit of everyone on here. I was going to send you a PM but thought that maybe there might be a few more folks out there who have never had sh*t happen and might learn something or have some constructive input on the incident.

 

Like the saying goes, " Learn from the mistakes of others.....". To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what I've learned from this episode. I'm still trying to figure out exactly why the thing came off! So, here goes...

 

The aircraft (407) was involved in long-line operations to remove sections of a hammer drill from a remote site and return them back to a staging area located approximately 1 km east of the Mt. Robson Park Information Centre. Total distance from drill site to staging area is approximately 6 kms. At approximately 18:50 local time, the helicopter was approximately 5 to 10 seconds away from beginning it’s deceleration for the approach into the staging area when the last load (the drill frame, 1400 - 1500 lbs?) was unintentionally released. The frame fell through moderately heavy timber to come to rest at the edge of an intersection of a creek draw/power line right-of-way and the C.N.R. right-of-way (Robson Subdivision).

 

There was no indication that there was a problem with any of the long-line gear during any of the 33 loads that were slung previously that same day. Ground crew confirmed that all sling gear appeared to be satisfactory as the load was being lifted from the drill site. There was no in-flight indication that there was a malfunction of any of the long-line gear, nor of the slung load impacting trees, terrain, etc. The only noticeable change was that of the helicopter’s reaction to the load being suddenly released. Upon landing at the staging area, the remote hook was examined and the hook load beam was found to be in the “open” position, as per a manual release. Inadvertent operation of the remote hook release switch was definitely ruled out.

 

A subsequent flight was made to pick up the ground crew, determine the location of the drill frame, and examine the flight path to determine a possible cause for the unintentional release. Several broken trees were observed along the flight path/trajectory of the drill frame. Flight operations were discontinued for the day due to failing light.

 

Preliminary examination of the remote hook (by company maintenance staff) indicated that there were no noticeable defects and that the remote hook appeared to be operating correctly at the time of the incident. However, malfunction of the remote hook could not be definitively ruled out. The incident remote hook was removed from service and another remote hook was installed.

 

The following day, 21 April 2006, inclement weather prevented flight operations until 16:10. The drill frame was recovered at about 17:15. Flight operations were discontinued for the day due to deteriorating weather conditions.

 

Flight operations resumed at approximately 08:30, 22 April 2006, with the long-line retrieval of the last remaining drill equipment and decking. The flight path was reviewed to determine if the drill frame had possibly contacted a tree which may have triggered the unintentional release. It was estimated that the clearance of the typical slung load would have been approximately 50 feet above the treetops at the incident location. However, impact with a treetop, which may have triggered the release of the load, could not be definitively ruled out but the reaction of the helicopter at the time of the incident would indicate otherwise.

 

...there you have it folks, fire away!

[transquebecniece]

Whatever happened, that post makes you a rock star, Bleed Air.

 

 

 

(Missin' ya, Downwash, wherever ya are!)

[FREDDIE]

Bah Shite happens.I saw an external hook release all by itself 4 years ago for no apparent reason.Those who see fault should be careful because I have seen more than one so called expert with egg on their face.Have a safe and prosperous summer everyone

[Helilog56]

It's actually beneficial to hear and or read stories of such events so that others can learn. Yes, hooks fail, slings and or straps slip, longlines fail and yes, pilots make mistakes. Rather than looking at this thread in a negative, let's find the positive (learning). Last year, i had a longline fail at the swag on the upper eye attached to the aircraft with a 17,000 lb turn, as we were doing water drops you can imagine how well a 3,000 lb grapple floats. The moral of the story.....we now date, serialize, and put a life on our lines....another lesson learned.

[412driver]

ah yes, shyte like that is always floating around. just the other day a forest officer i hadn't seen in 11 years goes "hey rob, howzit goin'? remember when you punched off that bucket?"

 

funny, he didn't seem to recall the report that mentioned items such as "screaming hydraulic pump", "shuddering and momentarily unresponsive controls", "caution lights".....pilot taking a bite out of the seat.... :shock:

 

and yes, i have had the gremlin that is hiding in everyones helicopter release a perfectly working hook for no reason and send a once perfect load to a sad end in the muskeg......

 

the words of the wise master Gump ring true: "$#@T HAPPENS!

 

two pilots: those that have and those that will.......

 

great post bleed air! lesson to be learned for "those that will" :up:

[Jet B]

I have had seismic bags come off the carousel many times over the years. Each time it was either the lanyard failing or the hook releasing due to ice, dirty grease in the hook, or the branches rubbing the manual release while stuffing 8 bags into a non-existant opening.

 

I have accidentally punched off the belly hook over a load in staging instead of re-setting the carousel, lucky that time I had the habit of never hitting re-set while the load is in the air.

 

I also had a whole longline drop for no apparant reason. I still think that one was an electrical short somewhere.

 

All you can really do is check your equipment daily, be very careful about hand position and release buttons, and never, never, never fly a load directly over people... Just in case.

 

Even then, if it can happen it will happen.