Amazing video, and amazing nobody got hurt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5aMT9MBfZI

MTV

I'd seen this before but just realized that the reason he hit the cable was because the guy on the ground jumped up and grabbed it causing the line to straighten and consequently move closer to the blades! I agree, amazing no one died! Especially on the ground.

CW

Looks like both pilots weren't restrained?

Pretty sure there was only one pilot, and he ended up in the back seat after the crash. Usually no pax allowed during external load ops. The shoulder belts in the Astar run up from behind the seat and wouldn't provide much help in this situation...if he even had them on. Looks like the seat pretty much ripped out during the crash.

Sometimes during external loads you have to lean out to see what's going on underneath you, especially in the Astar because there's such limited downward visibility in the first place, and the shoulder belts really restrict you there.

That was a scary one, lucky it didn't catch fire

THAT SOUND.

That is amazing. Sure enough, when the guy grabs the cable it pulls it into the blades and causes the crash. As the chopper makes its first turn during the crash you can see the pilot's body is completely outside of the chopper attached only by the seat belts. How he landed back inside is a miracle.

DEGJR.

Well that was painful to watch. I can't wear the shoulder harness when flying a long line in an Astar helicopter, you can't see the load. All to often there is some ground guy, way to eager to help. Like all stupid helicopter accidents this could have been prevented with some forethought. But then commenting on YouTube videos is easy.

Luckily that one didn't beat itself apart. Strong blades. bart, DEGJR, or Waterboy, are those main rotor blades honycombed like a Huey?

contactflying wrote:Luckily that one didn't beat itself apart. Strong blades. bart, DEGJR, or Waterboy, are those main rotor blades honycombed like a Huey?

They are composite with a foam core and fiberglass, and a stainless leading edge...very strong. The weakest link there is the "starflex" which is basically the rotor hub. It's a composite structure too, and does a lot of flexing and bending to allow the blades to flap and cone in flight. The whole system make for a very smooth rotor.

Whap, whap sounds good in a Vietnam movie, but simi-ridgid rotors are a pain in the ass.