Helicopter Crash

Sad story indeed, but I notice it is yet another Robinson helicopter involved. It must have been a later model because the earlier ones used to crash similarly and fall on their side, split the fuel tank and incinerate the occupants. Not in this case so the forced modifications to Robinsons have at least allowed some survivors.

Rule No 1 is never fly in a robbo. they tell us they are safe NOW after the fixes but never fly in one

Sardistics say you are far more likely to die driving your car/patrol/hi-lux etc. then flying in a R44, so for a lot of you the risk will be just to high & you will just have to stay at home ? that's OK more space in the camp grounds & the POST was not about the type of helicopter, it was about the sad loss of a family guy, who left school early loved the outdoors & sacrificed a lot to make a business that brought much joy & allowed a lot more people see an area that was extremely difficult to experience, I was lucky enough to go many times to the horizontal water falls before any/much tourism took place & it had to be planned well. I for one enjoyed the ease & comfort he made it for me to take my family & friends out several times & show them, a lot safer than travelling by boat that I have done many times small & large

Interesting to read all the negative comments in regard to the Robinson R44, yet it seems to be the most popular helicopter in the outback when it comes to mustering.

Macca.

The air crash investigation has just released info which says a pilot reported unusual vibes in the craft 2 days before, Crews balanced the tail rotor but apparently didn't look further. Seemed ok and sent it out. Tail rotor assembly gearbox blew off the boom shortly after takeoff that day. If the fault was that bad to shatter the entire rotor and gearbox completely off the chopper, they couldn't have looked into any possible faults of vibes much at all. I don't want to have them service any of my gear. It must have been detectable if straight after it, it loses the whole thing off the tail due to destructive vibe failure.
I noticed in the photo of the report that both blades of the tail rotor were still attached to the pitch control mechanism and shaft and right angle drive gearbox, having been examined and balanced they should not have been the problem but the tail boom mount plate is where the tail rotor gearbox departed from. Sort of indicates bolting was at fault.
Maybe the Robinson is far better than reports say and it is the servicing and repairs which are downing them.

For those of you interested here is the link to the ATSB preliminary report:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2020/aair/ao-2020-033/

It appears to be a catastrophic failure in one of the tail rotor subassembly components. Looks like something seized. Gearbox? No point in speculating. I think ATSB will discover the cause of this crash very quickly.

I feel so sorry for the pilot. Low altitude, rotor pitch and power up for the climb and then bang no tail rotor. Would have been a very violent yaw. Horrible set of circumstances for a pilot.

For those who don't receive the ATSB reports directly, here is a link to their preliminary.

Notable is that the first pilot reported not only vibration but also a "tapping" felt via the rotor pedals. Maintenance check-balanced the tail rotor and found nothing amiss. The deceased pilot also noted the vibration AFTER the maintenance. The failure was shortly after take-off on the first flight after maintenance.

Without being specifically familiar with their rotor gearbox, the tapping in any gearbox would suggest to me a fractured gear/tooth, and failure by lock-up would certainly cause the type of separation experienced.

That report flags something to me - the vibration was reported earlier, the maintenance people looked at it and it seemed OK on a ground run, then the pilot then noticed the vibration was still there but then chose to to go on the flight with his daughter embarked, noting the flight manual indicates not to fly or land immediately if vibrations are detected.

So while there is clearly a mechanical issue, there is also an issue of pilot error with disastrous results.