Fatal Crash of a Bell 206B JetRanger III near St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. (February 15, 2021)

[@kcindc5539]

Pilot was Maria Rodriguez, co-owner of the helicopter tour operator (“Buzz Caribbean”) and a former Helicopter Pilot of the Year. The other three fatalities were a family (mom dad and son) - the parents were visiting their son who was attending the local Antilles school at the time. RIP

[@fistteam]

“DEI Compliancy!” SMDH 😢

[@kcindc5539]

@@fistteam is it DEI if she’s a co-owner?

[@cannondale1950]

@@fistteam Exactly! There has never been a recorded case of a helicopter crash with a white male pilot. Weird, isn't it?

[@HongyaMa]

@@cannondale1950 Some women can't fly and freeze in emergencies. Seen it first hand... Several accident while working at a helicopter flight school. men & women are different - react differently = Fact

[@cannondale1950]

@@HongyaMa Check the NTSB reports, HongyaMa. It happens to men all the time. If you ever worked at a flight school, it was as a janitor.

[@BobABooey.]

Never get into a tour helicopter.

[@trackman174]

My son was a career Navy helicopter pilot and he told me:”it takes a hundred things to go wrong before a fixed wing plane comes down but it takes a hundred things to go right before a helicopter can fly”.

[@ler3968]

Over the last 10+ years, I've read about too many helo-tour or private helo accidents with fatalities. I see the tour flights daily where I live. Some time ago, I resolved never to get on a tour flight.

[@nipponhouseplayer]

Never Lowered the collective

[@randallstewart8487]

Or the nose,to help airflow over the blades,acted like she had never did an engine out auto rotation before,or just froze up!

[@alanaldpal950]

@@randallstewart8487 she

[@randallstewart8487]

@@alanaldpal950 Corrected that!Thanks!

[@ZeppelinR101]

​@@randallstewart8487👍💯

[@workingguy-OU812]

Never trust first-world engineering in the hands of second- and third-world maintenance crews. It's just a tenet that I've learned to live by.

[@sjb3460]

yep, that is demonstrated daily in so many accident videos.

[@HongyaMa]

Pilot screwed the pooch. Engine fails 1. slight aft cyclic to load the rotor system, 2 , Lower collective preserve Rotor RPM. Heading as desired . Do not dive. Do not add collective, Let Rotor RPM go top of green. Pilot screwed the pooch. No where to land? Flare through the trees and pull pitch as deep into the crash. let it pancake vertical. "0" air speed.

[@WX4CB]

Im more concerned with the fact that the relevant 300hr inspection page had “not applicable” all over it

[@samholdsworth420]

Not applicable

[@WX4CB]

@@samholdsworth420i know what n/a means. But isnt that the inspection page where it says right at the top for the 300 hour inspection in “hostile” environments? Specifically what it refers to jn the ntsb report?

[@samholdsworth420]

@@WX4CB idk 😶 I do know that poof of smoke from the engine before it failed wasn't good

[@jimmydulin928]

Good point. I have run Pawnee and CallAir Ag planes until really tired and fabric was only changed after a crash. But helicopter parts spin continuously and any one of them can kill you. Time life means replace when working quite well.

[@HongyaMa]

Case half inspection 300 hours must be done in any environment - What's worse is not lowering collective. Pilot screwed the pooch period.

[@TheRotorhound]

Jet Ranger has one of the best helicopter safety records too.

[@6tgr]

I am no expert on helicopters but it sort of looks to me like he never lowered the collective, in the close up it looked like blade pitch increased not decreased then it started to drop as the blades slowed down too much. I have seen the investigators miss obvious things like that lots of times in other accidents. One thing I would look into is if the engine damage could have damaged the controls going to the blades but more likely he just didn't put the collective down.

[@jimmydulin928]

I am an old Army helicopter pilot and you are correct. He immediately applied the right anti-torque pedal to stop the left turning fuselage (tail rotor pitch is against the fuselage turning right with power/torque applied to the left rotating main rotor) but he did not lower the collective soon enough and lost turns. The audio alarm would have been blaring and his turning maneuver would have increased turns if in autorotation, yet rotor decay obviously happened. The rotor decay and fall was somewhat stable due to his cyclic control of the slowing main rotor. He was startled and came unglued. If also an airplane pilot, he may have been just flying the airplane and too late realizing slow turns, no wing. The possible mechanical issue, other than engine failure, might have been a failure of the sprag clutch that should have released the engine from the main rotor and tail rotor so that they could spin freely in autorotation.

[@rafalemarine5063]

Tu as raison, on le voit très bien sur les images, le collectif est a fond, c'est ce qui attire l'oeil tout de suite.

[@Leo-fk9ch]

Military and civilian he,icopter pilot of 13,300 hours. It’s very obvious the rotor rpm decay was substantial in a very short period of time. Looks to me as if the pilot had the collective up, plus anti torque. Total failure to auto rotate. The rotor system decouples from the gearbox during power failure, so to keep rotor rpm up, you unload the blades with collective down. Literally glide the helo in until flare, close to LZ.

[@4500az]

@@jimmydulin928 He was a she. Her family is now suing Rolls Royce, claiming defective engine design. I don't think they'll get far with that considering that engine has been around since the 50's and has quite a good reputation.

[@oldtanker4860]

@@Leo-fk9ch Is there a chance that the gearbox did not decouple? I was watching the rotor slow rapidly as well and was wondering if, when the engine grenaded, the pilot had no control or option to allow the rotors to freely rotate. Then again it kind of looked like it started to try and climb too.

[@rogerhatcher3502]

Your rotor rpm will decay quickly if you don't get the collective down immediately. If you accomplish this in 2-3 seconds, you'll be doing better than some.....The good news is that you can regain lost rotor rpm as long as you get the collective down fast and adjust your pitch attitude to establish best autorotation glide, around 60 knots. Also, avoid or at least minimize the time operating in the "dead man zone", (operating low and slow). You will simply not have enough rotor rpm or airspeed to slow your decent rate. Unfortunately, you pass through the "dead man zone" during every takeoff and landing. Speed and altitude will be your friend. Sad story.

[@youchris67]

Notice the high pitch angles of the main blades after the compressor explodes.

[@xray606]

Unfortunately easier said than done. The human reaction for people who have probably gone their whole career without anything major happening, is to spend that 3 seconds going... 'What's happening right now?' That's what I did during training with a surprise cut by the instructor, and I'll never forget him saying the words... "Nope, you just killed us"

[@HotelPapa100]

@@xray606 Dunno. It's the equivalent of "point nose down" in an airplane, and that's a natural to anybody flying a small craft.

[@philliplanza7845]

From the video, I concur that it appears the pilot did not enter autorotation by immediately bottoming the collective when the engine failed, which caused rapid rotor rpm decay and loss of control of the aircraft.

[@AllanBrogdon]

Used to work at Bell helicopter and saw my stepdad who worked there and he said "I just spent my lunch break riding along on autorotations"

[@peterrestaino7047]

botched auto rotation

[@VictoryAviation]

The question is, but why?

[@gordonslippy1073]

The auto rotation was good, but it crashed into wooded terrain on a steep hillside and caught fire.

[@HongyaMa]

@@gordonslippy1073 Auto rotation never entered. collective up rotor RPM bleed off. = dead Seeing the crash site even I could pull it off.

[@StonyRC]

... and THAT is why I will NEVER get into a helicopter!

[@PJHEATERMAN]

Dump the collective to keep the Rotor RPM up and pedal turn towards the water ? Unless there was control damage due to the engine failure ? I'm a fixed wing pilot so im not an expert on rotor ops but the low rotor RPM is a big question mark and prayers to all.

[@shazam6274]

>11,406 TT & >12,500 cycles @2:00 . Avoid older high cycle Bell helicopters, especially in remote locations.

[@HongyaMa]

Replace the parts and do the inspection no issues, Pilot who doesn't lower the collective bigger issues

[@Cowdog1]

Why no autorotation?

[@sparky6200]

I'd love to hear from the heli guys on this one- Have you ever seen rotors slow down that fast? Was this due to a lack of prompt Collective Pitch lowering? Seems that was Auto-able from that speed & height... damn things just about came to a complete stop RPM 200-300 three seconds after flame-out

[@davidkavanagh189]

The report said the flight towards rising terrain made a successful autorotation likely impossible

[@philipmartin708]

I didn't see any evidence that he lowered the collective at all at any time.

[@r.j.martin1818]

@@davidkavanagh189 BS

[@davidkavanagh189]

@@r.j.martin1818 It's literally in the first paragraph of the report and obvious in the video but thanks a lot for your amazing insight.

[@r.j.martin1818]

@@davidkavanagh189 I fly helicopters. Military helicopters. The accident scenario shown in the film (loss of engine power at low altitude) was something we constantly trained for. A competent pilot paying attention could have landed that aircraft with minimal damage. I'm saying the reporting was a bullshit courtesy for the deceased.

[@chrisgill1302]

Can't tell if they ever even tried to auto rotate or there wasn't enough altitude to perform the maneuver. As with any aircraft, altitude is your best companion.

[@superseries7007]

Great training video illustrating what happens if you don't immediately enter autorotation after a catastrophic engine failure. Text book actually.

[@ilganis]

why no auto rotation?

[@hyperu2]

F-18 on Mt Rainier, tower in Texas and this one, all female pilots.

[@sintillate1913]

And the rest are male... Clearly far more men are crashing aircraft than women.

[@Thatsallihavetosayaboutthat]

@@sintillate1913there are more men pilots duh

[@sintillate1913]

@@Thatsallihavetosayaboutthat Sure, but even accounting for that, men crash more percentagewise. It's a known fact.

[@BostonBuzz]

Not supposed to talk about that.........

[@1compaqedr8]

what happened with the f18? low level CFIT or something else?

[@Perkeletricksterservantofrher]

Pilot/mech negligence

[@Ozbird-72]

All I see is engine failure without lowering the pitch and stalling the blades… Sad

[@flyingdutchman2918]

Rotor RPM is important

[@josephalberta1145]

Unless the camera is playing trick I saw absolutely 0 reduction in pitch. The blades lost all RPM and it fell like a rock. Horrible piloting skills if that was the case. I have been in an engine failure and a tail rotor failure as well. Always get your collective down RIGHT NOW and then start thinking where to go. RIP to the pilot and the victims.

[@Robochop-vz3qm]

Makes me really sad. So sorry to all.

[@AdmiralQuality]

Not a word about the pilot's complete failure to autorotate? You can see he's pulling full collective when he should be dumping it! (Apologies if he lost control linkage but I didn't see that in the report. It's just an engine failure, right? No biggie! At least it's not supposed to go like THIS!)

[@jlvandat69]

Two "big holes" I see in the swiss cheese are the missed 300 engine inspection which, according to the report, would have likely revealed corrosion issues in the compressor assembly. Second "hole" appears to be inappropriate pilot control inputs post-engine failure. I have worked in a humid, tropical environment as an engineer, and developed a strong concern for the highly-corrosive salt air. Condolences to all involved. 🙏🙏

[@MorrisB1971]

The person filming had only 1 job 🤦‍♂️

[@sintillate1913]

People apparently forget how to film when they see an impending crash

[@cdncitizen4700]

KZbin has their own "job" which prevents things from being shown... or told...

[@wayneschenk5512]

Looks like pilot error or something stopped him from lowering the collective.

[@HongyaMa]

bingo!

[@bgmstudiosng]

This is my issue with choppers. They are so unforgiving

[@clarencegreen3071]

After giving the matter much thought, I have concluded that it is not fitting and proper for the wings of an aircraft to whirl around above the part where you sit.

[@philipmartin708]

@@clarencegreen3071 Tell that to the many thousands of people whose lives have been saved because of helicopters. And if you ever need a Life Flight, just say no.

[@clarencegreen3071]

@@philipmartin708 I hear what you're saying, and I agree.

[@cwilliams2753]

Anything that flies is unforgiving when you don't do maintenance.

[@dphillips4351]

At first I thought they had experience tail rotor ineffectiveness based on speed and cross wind.😢

[@nealgill3023]

Yea Mon, island maintenance. I’ve seen this crap all around the world. Money before maintenance.

[@chefduane3742]

Where exactly was this? I assume she was out of STT but doesn't look like anywhere near Charlotte Amalie or even Red Hook. Maybe on the backside near Magens?

[@aviationaccidentsNTSBcases]

At Botany Bay (18.354444,-65.027778) www.google.com/maps/place/18%C2%B021'16.0%22N+65%C2%B001'40.0%22W/@18.354444,-65.027778,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d18.354444!4d-65.027778?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[@seeingeyegod]

Single engine helicopter?

[@Rotuma1260]

Yes.

[@bks252]

The unsuccessful auto looked to me to be caused when the pilot pulled aft cyclic during that turn. It’s almost natural to want to pull back on the cyclic when in a right turn but trying to complete an auto with turn under actual emergency conditions is very difficult. I’m sure those guys flying this type of jobs don’t get any simulator emergency procedure training. I will never ever get in a civilian helicopter unless, and then only maybe, it is being piloted by a retired military helicopter pilot.

[@industrieundtechnik1761]

Shit ! Very sad case !

[@SteenWinther]

Cowboys should stick to horses...

[@Youll_Love_It_At_Levitz]

Damn😞

[@tedtedsen269]

When the helicopter crashes people cry out to God(OMG) are they belivers

[@sintillate1913]

Absolute shite cameraman! Has a good shot and then random stops filming before the actual crash happens 🙄

[@gordonslippy1073]

I think we didn't get the entire video. This is the sanitized version.

[@GarthWatkins-th3jt]

The only pure, honest and accurate video footage is 100% intact and complete, no editing for content or to fit an allotted time slot. All the years we used to rent movies on vhs then DVD's and there was no shortage of sex and drugs and rock&roll and violence, course language, etc so the motion picture association rated movies: G, PG, R, PG-13, X, XXX. It's your right and your responsibility to make your own decisions based on conclusions you've drawn provided you have the capacity to perform said tasks. "Society always sinks to it's lowest common denominator" and they'll pull the drain plug in the human gene pool to prove it. In other words "they" are the causing what's affecting, then determining what prescription will best treat the infection in the affected area. Cause and effect, wax on wax off....."there's a revolution calling!"

[@MickB235]

He might of tried to lower the collective but probably didn't get very far because of some obstruction like a camera bag or something like that

[@MurrayNoneya-yb3il]

Seized engine, no auto rotation.

[@paulscott6605]

When I was an instructor the students were all thoroughly drilled on full on autorotations. every one of them could do it and be safe and smooth. It appears that the unfortunate pilot in this video didn't get that training.