Helicopter Encounters Mechanical Problems

[Himerzi]

This happened to a Bell 412 in 2006, operating in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico. Its a good clip. The pilot reports he is having trouble controlling the helo.

A little brief on what happens: Although I'm not completely sure this is  the equivalent term in English, I believe that he reports that the cyclic is responding, but the  collective is not.  All his fellow pilots immediately come on freq. for moral support - calling him by his first name and all - and ask his position in order to go and rescue him. The pilot reports he's trying to line himself up with a boat ahead (he is flying over the waters of Campeche sound, so I supose his intention was to be close to a boat that could rescue him). The crew managed to land safely in the water, and came out of the ordeal in good shape.

Credits for the audio go to this website: http://homepage.mac.com/helipilot/PPRuNe/TorredeControl.wav

Out of curiosity, anybody know what the procedure is for putting a helicopter down with no collective control ?

[Switch Monkey]

This happened to a Bell 412 in 2006, operating in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico. Its a good clip. The pilot reports he is having trouble controlling the helo.

A little brief on what happens: Although I'm not completely sure this is  the equivalent term in English, I believe that he reports that the cyclic is responding, but the  collective is not.  All his fellow pilots immediately come on freq. for moral support - calling him by his first name and all - and ask his position in order to go and rescue him. The pilot reports he's trying to line himself up with a boat ahead (he is flying over the waters of Campeche sound, so I supose his intention was to be close to a boat that could rescue him). The crew managed to land safely in the water, and came out of the ordeal in good shape.

Credits for the audio go to this website: http://homepage.mac.com/helipilot/PPRuNe/TorredeControl.wav

Out of curiosity, anybody know what the procedure is for putting a helicopter down with no collective control ?

My guess  is changes in power.

[dska22]

I thought the collective provided the power, no?

[Hollis]

The collective controls the lift, or rotor thrust. The throttle(s) control power to the rotor to maintain RPM. Typically they are interconnected . i.e., pulling up on the collective advances the throttle(s) and vice versa.
As far as loss of collective control, in most cases one would simply fly as if it were a fixed wing aircraft. If it happened during cruise, as was probably this case, a safe touchdown can be done by doing an approach down to a height of maybe 10 or 15 feet above the landing surface, then decelerate by pitching the nose up rather high, then level off and let it settle in, chopping the throttle as it does. Not much difference than a full autorotation landing.

[johnm1019]

yeah, you could only use forward speed and bring it down then flare at the last second.