You know all those helicopter "Jesus nut" jokes?

[Strychnine]

RIP, gents





Helicopters are used to ferry people to and from offshore oil platforms. In the North Sea the Eurocopter Super Puma tends to be the fleet workhorse, but lots of people hate them at the same time.




Yesterday 13 guys from Halliburton, Schlumberger, Aker, Welltec, etc - all doing work for Statoil - were killed when the rotors detached from a Super Puma, and someone was quick enough with their phone to get video of the 5 blades, still attached to the hub, flying through the air... without the airframe.








And it's not the first time it's happened. Apparently when the main gearbox shits the bed this is what happens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Bond_Helicopters_Eurocopter_AS332_crash

[KBScobravert]

Worst nightmare. Spent lots of time in the Puma.


RIP

[Strychnine]

They just pulled the wreckage out of the water.. Holy shit.

[CJ]

Wow. Maintenance much?

[helosailor]

See, if everyone flew Sikorskys, this wouldn't happen.

Seriously though, that is one of the freakiest things I have ever seen.

[Big Dad]

I believe the rotor is just doing as designed

RIP to those fellas, very sad

[LANTIRN]

Well, now I never want to get on a helicoptor.

[helosailor]

Statistically, you are way more likely to die because of the tail rotor. Whether you walk into it, it fails, or a skinny hits it with an RPG, they'll fuck your day up much more often than the main rotor.

[KBScobravert]

Statistically, you are way more likely to die because of the tail rotor. Whether you walk into it, it fails, or a skinny hits it with an RPG, they'll fuck your day up much more often than the main rotor.

In 1997, when I was a young Marine in Congo, Africa the CH53 behind ours snapped a tail rotor driveshaft as it was taking off from Congo to head to the ship. Got a few feet up and then BAM. Pilots put her straight down before it had a chance to rotate on them. Glad I wasn't in that sucker.

[CJ]

Statistically, you are way more likely to die because of the tail rotor. Whether you walk into it, it fails, or a skinny hits it with an RPG, they'll fuck your day up much more often than the main rotor.

If the tail rotor goes you at least have a chance. I'd rather be experiencing 6 G's pinned against the fuselage than a free fall with everyone screaming.

[inline 6]

I cant speak for all but most helos that have tail fins of some sort can still control yaw "IF" they are cruising along. If they are in a hover and lose it they are toast.

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[helosailor]

I cant speak for all but most helos that have tail fins of some sort can still control yaw "IF" they are cruising along. If they are in a hover and lose it they are toast.

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Not exactly. The "fins" only provide a tiny amount of directional stability in forward flight. Many helicopters have "centering sockets" which put the tail rotor in a neutral setting if the tail rotor cable(s) are lost. In the event of a catastrophic tail rotor failure (driveshaft, blades, gearbox, etc), you are almost always going for a very bad ride that will usually end in all or some dying.

[inline 6]

I'm sure it works better in theory but at least most if the aircraft that are built by the company that I work for are designed in this manner.

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[Grimpala]

Shouldn't there be some sort of redundancy so that one nut isn't the only thing holding such an important piece to the A/C?

[helosailor]

I'm sure it works better in theory but at least most if the aircraft that are built by the company that I work for are designed in this manner.

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What company would that be? Unless the tail fin is vertical and has a moveable control surface (like a rudder) it can't control yaw. The yaw is caused by the spinning of the main rotor, and the only effective way to control it is a fully functional tail rotor.