I was at school with one of the cadets who passed away. I distinctly remember him working on scenery for a play I was in, and him taking a real interest in who I was and how he could help me, which at the time was so surprising as the older kids were normally so dismissive of younger ones. He had such a lot of good character - I'm certain he would have gone very far in life. I watch this now and just feel so sad that he didn't have the opportunity to do that. My deepest condolences to his family and to the family of the others who lost their lives.
You are watching three children losing their lives when you watch this video, teenage children, two boys and a girl. Try and remember that when you make your crass comments.
Terrible. My Mum used to work with Amanda Whitehead's Mum, Sandra, at Craig House in Bury. I used to go there after College and sit at Mums desk before walking home together. Sandra was at the same desk. She was a lovely lady. I recall she was never the same when she came back months after tragedy.
I remember this well. I was an Air cadet at RAF Kinloss in 1993 when this happened. The padre pulled us all into the hall and told us about it. Terrible accident
Considering he was on a moving train filming a helicopter which then unexpectedly crashed it was great filming better than most videos uploaded today where the filmer can't hold camera steady
I was 5 on the train next to the lake when I saw the helicopter go down. Till this day I can still remember it clearly and I refuse to go on a helicopter ever again in my life.RIP
As a cadet, I flew on this helicopter in the late 80’s. We were in barracks at Capel Curig when this helicopter landed in a field next to us and we were told to enter it in groups of 4. It would then drop us off at the top of a mountain near Plas y Brenin. This was the only time I’ve been in a helicopter!
I was stationed at RAF valley when this happened. I knew members of the mountian reacue team and i knew aircrew from the helicopter squadron. Family members visited the camp shortly after. An absolute tragedy for all concrened. RIP to those poor kids.
I'm from the squadron one of the cadets came from, and one of our members of staff was their best friend... it's still raw for him. One of our other members of staff went back to the site and brought back a single stone from the site and as a leaving present, handed it to the other. One of the nicest people you could meet, crumbled in an instant and I couldn't help but do the same as you can see, it still haunts him. It's horrible what happened, it really is.
As the accident aircraft belonged to the RAF, the responsibility for investigating the crash lay not with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch but with the military. The Ministry of Defence released a report in November 1995. The RAF investigators determined the loss of power on the tail rotor to have been caused by two toothed flanges in the tail boom failing to engage properly. The tail of the Westland Wessex can be folded for storage and transport. The shaft that drives the tail rotor is broken and then remade by means of a disconnect coupling using two flanges. When the tail was last unfolded, the two flanges failed to mesh completely. It is hypothesized that the disconnection of the autopilot just prior the accident increased the stress on the tail section, triggering the failure. After the two halves of the transmission train became decoupled, the tail rotor was not powered and ceased functioning. The crew then had no means to control the aircraft. Beginning January 1996, a civilian inquest was also held in Llandudno.
I'm a civilian instructor at 1036 (Bury) Squadron ATC. This even plays a big part in our squadron history, and although perhaps not nice to see, this footage is valuable in some form to us. We've recently had a remembrance service to commemorate 20 years of the accident at the plaque besides Llyn Padarn.
Its been years since I last saw footage of this accident. Untill now I hadn't noticed seeing the tail rotor fail, from that moment the helicopter was uncontrolable and doomed to crash. Very sad indeed.
I used to travel a lot on these Wessex from Besbrook Mill, Northern Ireland. Once boarded (rotors turning) and just as we were about to lift off, a Big Bang and the tail rotor gearbox failed (same as this).
If a gearbox catastrophically fails with a "big bang" the entire tail rotor is going to fall the fuck off the airframe. In this video the "tail rotor" didn't "fail" much less "stop turning". And the tail rotor is NOT "flight critical" if the "pilot" is a competent rotary-wing pilot capable of using collective and cyclic to "control torque" and least of all a big, heavy single-engine 4-blade rotor "whirlibird" like a Sikorsky H34. What DID "fail" was someone half-assed TURBINE CONVERSION which is a "Commonwealth" thing at least one Aussie assbag "entrepreneur" was doing here in the U.S. along with "rebuilding" damaged and "timed-out" rotor blades for those antique helicopters nobody has built a new rotor blade for in at least 30 or 40 years. Idiot wannabe "aerospace engineer" hacks that think "1500 hp" in a RADIAL and "1500 hp" in a TURBINE are the "same thing" even though they end up overspeeding the main rotor AND everything else engine-powered as a result but "only" by 10% or so. Fucking crooked Commonwealth con artist fucks just like "apologists" like you claiming its a "common thing" for those "antiques" to have "tail rotor gearbox failures" and making up bullshit stories about your "frequent flyer" status on them like somebody is fucking paying you for your lies. And without even watching the fucking video which is OBVIOUSLY not even all from "1993" much less does it show a tail rotor "stopping". What's it like to be an accomplice or co-conspirator in a racket like "recycling" worn-out aviation scrap metal with "military surplus" parts and other "non-compliant" and "counterfeit" parts never inspected by any "regulator agency" other than what passes for one in a shithole "Commonwealth" country in order to get it "boxed up" and "shipped out" to whatever overseas "enthusiasts" or "entrepreneurs" will pay "good money" for "shit parts" so they can "rebuild" or "restore" so-called "vintage" vehicles and then pass the finished product to the ultimate suck...I mean "consumer" who will be the only real "victim" of the "civil" part of the scam but may end up killing one or more other innocent victims in an accident more than likely chalked up to "pilot error" and "investigated" about as thoroughly as can be right up until the counterfeit/junk parts show up at which point it DEFINITELY becomes "pilot error" as long as the "rebuilt" and/or "upgraded" flying scrapyard has an "experimental" certificate to go with that hillbilly shadetree "repower" with what is/was no doubt yet ANOTHER "damaged" and/or "timed out" engine, gearboxes, etc? Never mind. Asking a con artist hack professional spam artist like you to analyze your "conscience" is asking you to work without tools.
I was watching this helicopter flying above llanberis where i live moments before it crashed, my partner is one of the firefighters carrying the cadets from the wreakage. Terrible thing to happen and will never be forgotten in Llanberis RIP
thanks for uploading this. i'm an air cadet and i've been up in the New Sea King, the wessex is such a trampish helicopter, there's a massive exhaust vent infront of the door which is known to melt soldiers helmets when getting out of the chopper!!
Omg remember this like it was yesterday,I was on holiday with my mates,and was on the campsite next to the lake when it went down,never forget that very sad :(
Given those bright, fluorescent green safety vests featured in this video from "1993" and the fact that the helicopter shown at 2:10 is a "Commonwealth Special" piece of shit "scrapped" mil-surplus "H34" shadetree "engineered" with a turbine engine "upgrade" and at least one "Aussie-owned" fly-by-night "MRO" shop here in the U.S. "specialized" in that "upgrade" as well as "rebuilding" worn-out and/or damaged and/or "timed-out" rotor blades for Sikorsky H19s and H34s before relatively recently "closing up shop" and selling some "parts aircraft" to Kermit Weeks, I'd say "yesterday" is a HELL of a lot closer to when that crash or one or more "just like it" ACTUALLY happened than "1993". Never trust an aircraft "built" in/by "Commonwealth" countries that "build" knockoffs of quality American aircraft "under license" and also own and operate and completely control all the "media" in the "Commonwealth" and lie to their "citizens" with such brazen impunity the only explanation is that the "elite" are even more braindead and inbred than the "average citizen".
Autorrotation??? with a tail rotor failure it's not an option. Due to Disconnect coupling disengagement, tail rotor wasn't turning. I'm an Engineer and a Crewman of HC Mk2 myself.
I think I heard that an RAF mechanic goofed by using the wrong oil for the tail rotor bearings, or else forgot completely to oil it with any type of oil in the first place. The angry parents of the cadets said- "We trusted the RAF with the lives of our children and they let us down"
From what I remenber, this was on the last day of an annual camp. 162 sqn, 55 sqn and 1196 were there the week after, all chopper flights cancelled. 162 was at Raf Valley, but didn't fly that week.
I was there that day, we were going to take the train up the snowdonia, wondering what happened, until we saw some air bubbles in the lake. I think I might have been in the last second or half a second of the BBC news or some other news that seems to be cut off here, sitting on some bench with my parents and sister.
I was a couple of Km away from the home base at RAF Valley. I'm used to seeing them flying overhead, but looked up as it passed overhead a few moments before the crash and said "Someones in trouble" to a workmate. He later freaked out, when he'd heard what had happened.
well then, presumably you are a much finer pilot than the vastly experienced RAF search and rescue pilot who was involved in this accident. if only you had been there then not only would you not have lost any of the crew but you may also have saved the aircraft and rescued a kitten from a tree on the way down as well.
I just found this by accident whilst looking for rc chopper vids. I was at that base too with the ATC but it was a few years later. We went up in a Sea King, I never even knew this had happened till watching this vid. Suppose it's not the type of thing they would tell us just before going up!
I fly airplanes without engines almost daily during the summer, and they sure as hell don't "fall through the air", they glide like birds. Even the worst "bricks", like the popular Cessnas and Pipers, have a glide ratio of maybe 10, which is more than enough to make a safe landing.
Helicopters don't either unless the tail rotor stops which is the equivalent of losing the rudder and and entering a spin. Completely unrecoverable in nearly all circumstances. Very sad event to have occured.
What a stupid comment to make! Do you have any concept of the gyroscopic and torque moments involved in helicopters? If the tail rotor fail you loose the main force which counterbalances the engine torque and the net result is loss of lift. I would say the pilot did a superb job of ditching. The helicopter was not spinning wildly and it hit at a relatively low vertical velocity. I would suggest you obviously have no idea...
You have a RW licence and Wessex hours do you? Arm chair experts (who aren't) insult the professionalism of these Aircrew, some of the worlds best. I'm sure these people did all that was able to be done to let the aircraft down under control. Problem is, they had none.
Oh? How did the collective get "dropped" causing that "plunge" then? And where exactly does the tail rotor "appear to stop turning"? And what kind of "professional" helicopter pilot isn't able to "control torque" on a big, heavy 4-bladed bird like that with the collective and cyclic? Care to comment on the obvious "turbine engine upgrade" of the aircraft at 2:12 which is a "general aviation" type of "upgrade" that in any "regulated" general aviation environment would immediately make that an "experimental" aircraft? How about the "early failure" of a part/component in such an "experimental" aircraft that clearly did NOT have a "tail rotor gearbox failure" and was already "rotating" before CLEARLY "power" rather than "control" was lost causing it to "stall" and fall out of the fucking sky. At least one "Aussie" assclown here in the U.S. was until recently playing with those "turbine repowers" as well as "rebuilding" damaged and "timed out" rotor blades for those DINOSAUR "Sikorsky" helicopters that were "old" and "obsolete" in the 1960s. Apparently he found "greener grass" elsewhere and "sold out" some of his "vintage" Sikorsky "scrap metal" including a couple of airframes to Kermit Weeks. There's video of the "inspection" and "sales pitch" right here on UA-cam if you search "Kermit Weeks' Hangar" and "Sikorsky". And prominently featured is a turbine "repower" the Aussie "entrepreneur" claims was used for "balancing rebuilt rotor blades" only or some bullshit. He does "mention" that the "upgrade" also overspeeds the main rotor and of course by extension the tail rotor as well but doesn't seem too concerned. So how much of an armchair expert are YOU, Mr. Rotorhead? Did you even WATCH the fucking video which CLEARLY is not ALL from "1993" if you have any clue that in "1993" there weren't "fluorescent green" safety vests for "high visibility" in both DAYLIGHT and NIGHTTIME working environments. And sure as FUCK not in the "UK" where there probably isn't even a "2nd shift" worked anywhere in the country much less a THIRD. You also rarely find those safety vests worn "alone" with no hardhat, safety glasses, hearing protection etc by anybody but "posers" who are pretty much "dressing for the part" as they try to "rewrite history" and make a "1993" video that is so obviously "filmed" with digital camcorders in multiple "scenes" it isn't even fucking funny. Just a little hint. The "live on location" video should never be "higher quality" than the "in-studio video" and the latter should never look like "home video" with "VHS" while the former looks like "HDTV". So why don't you run the fuck along and stop your pathetic "intimidation" tactics that are about as apt to "scare off" any "armchair expert" who bothered to watch a "video" from "1993" you clearly did NOT as you are to "out-expert" anybody who knows even the BASICS of how a "whirlibird" operates.
i remember this very well. i knew one of the cadets who died, he was in my year at school. i remember the school assembly on the monday after the crash.
That is a big problem with helicopters. With an airplane, a complete failure of all engines results in a glider. In a typical helicopter, the slightest failure of the tail rotor is usually catastrophic, while the tail rotor is small and vulnerable and is located at the end of a long and complicated drive shaft.
omg.. i remember this i was a cadet camping at RAF base in south of wales at the time.. we were supposed to go out in a chopper but it was cancelled cos of this accident.. had to phone our parents to let em know it wasnt us..
Yeah, most helis that autorotate because of say - engine failure, tail rotor failure, the landings are not always perfect landings, most helis normally loose the tail, or roll over :( and alot more structual damage can happen due to stress ans tension on the fuselage.
how are you supposed to deal with that when the helicopter has just broken? that was best case senario as if they hit solid groud they would all be dead for sure
For less important jobs like training yes because that didn't matter if they were out of date but for more important jobs they were mostly replaced by the more modern Sea King
So what was the follow up? Does anyone know what the investigation turned up? I suspect SnackPimper is probably right, but would like to hear the "offical" report.
@dropkickmurphy01 #1, I'm sorry but my mastering of Spanish (my native language) made me wrong. #2 again, I'm sorry, I was thinking on entering A/R (just in case of a misspelling) ONLY BECAUSE OF THE T/R, but it's possible as you say. #3 For 22 years I've been an engineer and crewman on UH-1B, UH-1H, B-212 (Griffen), HC Mk2 and AS-365 (Dauphin) this for only a short time. Now I'm retired, as well as our Mk2's, but only after a very rich life here in the south. Beautiful machine to fly.
That looked like tail rotor failure. Not a lot you can do to oppose rotor torque then... The only way out is to chop the rpm and hope to perform the best autorotation you can. Leave the power on and the machine will whip itself to death in faster and faster pirouettes.
he could have auto'd with enough forward airspeed, you can actually auto when you loose the tail rotor, its just alot harder to regain control when your low and dont have much airspeed, if he had been higher, and had a greater airspeed he would have been able to auto.
I was at school with one of the cadets who passed away. I distinctly remember him working on scenery for a play I was in, and him taking a real interest in who I was and how he could help me, which at the time was so surprising as the older kids were normally so dismissive of younger ones. He had such a lot of good character - I'm certain he would have gone very far in life. I watch this now and just feel so sad that he didn't have the opportunity to do that. My deepest condolences to his family and to the family of the others who lost their lives.
RIP Christopher my friend, It may be 28 years on but you'll always be remembered
Christopher is my cousin. I miss him so much. *Hugs* ❤️
You are watching three children losing their lives when you watch this video, teenage children, two boys and a girl. Try and remember that when you make your crass comments.
Rita Rankin Cool
Snowflake
Terrible. My Mum used to work with Amanda Whitehead's Mum, Sandra, at Craig House in Bury. I used to go there after College and sit at Mums desk before walking home together.
Sandra was at the same desk. She was a lovely lady. I recall she was never the same when she came back months after tragedy.
I remember this well.
I was an Air cadet at RAF Kinloss in 1993 when this happened.
The padre pulled us all into the hall and told us about it.
Terrible accident
Considering he was on a moving train filming a helicopter which then unexpectedly crashed it was great filming better than most videos uploaded today where the filmer can't hold camera steady
I was 5 on the train next to the lake when I saw the helicopter go down. Till this day I can still remember it clearly and I refuse to go on a helicopter ever again in my life.RIP
As a cadet, I flew on this helicopter in the late 80’s. We were in barracks at Capel Curig when this helicopter landed in a field next to us and we were told to enter it in groups of 4. It would then drop us off at the top of a mountain near Plas y Brenin. This was the only time I’ve been in a helicopter!
I was stationed at RAF valley when this happened. I knew members of the mountian reacue team and i knew aircrew from the helicopter squadron. Family members visited the camp shortly after. An absolute tragedy for all concrened. RIP to those poor kids.
I'm from the squadron one of the cadets came from, and one of our members of staff was their best friend... it's still raw for him. One of our other members of staff went back to the site and brought back a single stone from the site and as a leaving present, handed it to the other. One of the nicest people you could meet, crumbled in an instant and I couldn't help but do the same as you can see, it still haunts him. It's horrible what happened, it really is.
As the accident aircraft belonged to the RAF, the responsibility for investigating the crash lay not with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch but with the military. The Ministry of Defence released a report in November 1995. The RAF investigators determined the loss of power on the tail rotor to have been caused by two toothed flanges in the tail boom failing to engage properly. The tail of the Westland Wessex can be folded for storage and transport. The shaft that drives the tail rotor is broken and then remade by means of a disconnect coupling using two flanges. When the tail was last unfolded, the two flanges failed to mesh completely. It is hypothesized that the disconnection of the autopilot just prior the accident increased the stress on the tail section, triggering the failure. After the two halves of the transmission train became decoupled, the tail rotor was not powered and ceased functioning. The crew then had no means to control the aircraft.
Beginning January 1996, a civilian inquest was also held in Llandudno.
I'm a civilian instructor at 1036 (Bury) Squadron ATC. This even plays a big part in our squadron history, and although perhaps not nice to see, this footage is valuable in some form to us. We've recently had a remembrance service to commemorate 20 years of the accident at the plaque besides Llyn Padarn.
As the CWO on camp and at 1036 at the time it would have been nice to have been invited to the ceremony.
Its been years since I last saw footage of this accident. Untill now I hadn't noticed seeing the tail rotor fail, from that moment the helicopter was uncontrolable and doomed to crash. Very sad indeed.
I used to travel a lot on these Wessex from Besbrook Mill, Northern Ireland. Once boarded (rotors turning) and just as we were about to lift off, a Big Bang and the tail rotor gearbox failed (same as this).
If a gearbox catastrophically fails with a "big bang" the entire tail rotor is going to fall the fuck off the airframe. In this video the "tail rotor" didn't "fail" much less "stop turning". And the tail rotor is NOT "flight critical" if the "pilot" is a competent rotary-wing pilot capable of using collective and cyclic to "control torque" and least of all a big, heavy single-engine 4-blade rotor "whirlibird" like a Sikorsky H34. What DID "fail" was someone half-assed TURBINE CONVERSION which is a "Commonwealth" thing at least one Aussie assbag "entrepreneur" was doing here in the U.S. along with "rebuilding" damaged and "timed-out" rotor blades for those antique helicopters nobody has built a new rotor blade for in at least 30 or 40 years. Idiot wannabe "aerospace engineer" hacks that think "1500 hp" in a RADIAL and "1500 hp" in a TURBINE are the "same thing" even though they end up overspeeding the main rotor AND everything else engine-powered as a result but "only" by 10% or so. Fucking crooked Commonwealth con artist fucks just like "apologists" like you claiming its a "common thing" for those "antiques" to have "tail rotor gearbox failures" and making up bullshit stories about your "frequent flyer" status on them like somebody is fucking paying you for your lies. And without even watching the fucking video which is OBVIOUSLY not even all from "1993" much less does it show a tail rotor "stopping".
What's it like to be an accomplice or co-conspirator in a racket like "recycling" worn-out aviation scrap metal with "military surplus" parts and other "non-compliant" and "counterfeit" parts never inspected by any "regulator agency" other than what passes for one in a shithole "Commonwealth" country in order to get it "boxed up" and "shipped out" to whatever overseas "enthusiasts" or "entrepreneurs" will pay "good money" for "shit parts" so they can "rebuild" or "restore" so-called "vintage" vehicles and then pass the finished product to the ultimate suck...I mean "consumer" who will be the only real "victim" of the "civil" part of the scam but may end up killing one or more other innocent victims in an accident more than likely chalked up to "pilot error" and "investigated" about as thoroughly as can be right up until the counterfeit/junk parts show up at which point it DEFINITELY becomes "pilot error" as long as the "rebuilt" and/or "upgraded" flying scrapyard has an "experimental" certificate to go with that hillbilly shadetree "repower" with what is/was no doubt yet ANOTHER "damaged" and/or "timed out" engine, gearboxes, etc?
Never mind. Asking a con artist hack professional spam artist like you to analyze your "conscience" is asking you to work without tools.
I was watching this helicopter flying above llanberis where i live moments before it crashed, my partner is one of the firefighters carrying the cadets from the wreakage. Terrible thing to happen and will never be forgotten in Llanberis RIP
thanks for uploading this. i'm an air cadet and i've been up in the New Sea King, the wessex is such a trampish helicopter, there's a massive exhaust vent infront of the door which is known to melt soldiers helmets when getting out of the chopper!!
In all my years of working on Sea Kings and Wessex I have never heard such rubbish as you wrote.
Omg remember this like it was yesterday,I was on holiday with my mates,and was on the campsite next to the lake when it went down,never forget that very sad :(
Given those bright, fluorescent green safety vests featured in this video from "1993" and the fact that the helicopter shown at 2:10 is a "Commonwealth Special" piece of shit "scrapped" mil-surplus "H34" shadetree "engineered" with a turbine engine "upgrade" and at least one "Aussie-owned" fly-by-night "MRO" shop here in the U.S. "specialized" in that "upgrade" as well as "rebuilding" worn-out and/or damaged and/or "timed-out" rotor blades for Sikorsky H19s and H34s before relatively recently "closing up shop" and selling some "parts aircraft" to Kermit Weeks, I'd say "yesterday" is a HELL of a lot closer to when that crash or one or more "just like it" ACTUALLY happened than "1993". Never trust an aircraft "built" in/by "Commonwealth" countries that "build" knockoffs of quality American aircraft "under license" and also own and operate and completely control all the "media" in the "Commonwealth" and lie to their "citizens" with such brazen impunity the only explanation is that the "elite" are even more braindead and inbred than the "average citizen".
When I was a cadet I also flew in a Wessex from RAF Valley. It was the same helicopter, only two weeks earlier!
my uncle ( david sowden filmed this in 1993 while he was on holiday with my 2 cousins
My cousin was in this crash. Rest in paradise ❤️
Autorrotation??? with a tail rotor failure it's not an option. Due to Disconnect coupling disengagement, tail rotor wasn't turning. I'm an Engineer and a Crewman of HC Mk2 myself.
I think I heard that an RAF mechanic goofed by using the wrong oil for the tail rotor bearings, or else forgot completely to oil it with any type of oil in the first place.
The angry parents of the cadets said- "We trusted the RAF with the lives of our children and they let us down"
From what I remenber, this was on the last day of an annual camp. 162 sqn, 55 sqn and 1196 were there the week after, all chopper flights cancelled. 162 was at Raf Valley, but didn't fly that week.
I was there that day, we were going to take the train up the snowdonia, wondering what happened, until we saw some air bubbles in the lake. I think I might have been in the last second or half a second of the BBC news or some other news that seems to be cut off here, sitting on some bench with my parents and sister.
I worked there as groundcrew that day and remember them. It still haunts me to think of that sad day.
I was a couple of Km away from the home base at RAF Valley. I'm used to seeing them flying overhead, but looked up as it passed overhead a few moments before the crash and said "Someones in trouble" to a workmate. He later freaked out, when he'd heard what had happened.
well then, presumably you are a much finer pilot than the vastly experienced RAF search and rescue pilot who was involved in this accident. if only you had been there then not only would you not have lost any of the crew but you may also have saved the aircraft and rescued a kitten from a tree on the way down as well.
The incident with the RN Wessex had actually happened before this incident, not after.
The cadets were East Lancs wing.
Actually the RAF stopped operating the Wessex in 2003 - ten years later.
I just found this by accident whilst looking for rc chopper vids. I was at that base too with the ATC but it was a few years later. We went up in a Sea King, I never even knew this had happened till watching this vid. Suppose it's not the type of thing they would tell us just before going up!
Somebody would have to tell you that helicopters can crash for you to be aware of it?
@Chris Greene He has a point Chris.
You can't autorotate properly with tail rotor failure.
I fly airplanes without engines almost daily during the summer, and they sure as hell don't "fall through the air", they glide like birds. Even the worst "bricks", like the popular Cessnas and Pipers, have a glide ratio of maybe 10, which is more than enough to make a safe landing.
Helicopters don't either unless the tail rotor stops which is the equivalent of losing the rudder and and entering a spin. Completely unrecoverable in nearly all circumstances.
Very sad event to have occured.
its kinda weird that alot of helicopter crashers happen during training missions
Tail rotor has always been a weak point on a flingwing. The rotor shaft breaks and heli goes augering in.
What a stupid comment to make! Do you have any concept of the gyroscopic and torque moments involved in helicopters? If the tail rotor fail you loose the main force which counterbalances the engine torque and the net result is loss of lift. I would say the pilot did a superb job of ditching. The helicopter was not spinning wildly and it hit at a relatively low vertical velocity. I would suggest you obviously have no idea...
You have a RW licence and Wessex hours do you?
Arm chair experts (who aren't) insult the professionalism of these Aircrew, some of the worlds best. I'm sure these people did all that was able to be done to let the aircraft down under control. Problem is, they had none.
Oh? How did the collective get "dropped" causing that "plunge" then? And where exactly does the tail rotor "appear to stop turning"? And what kind of "professional" helicopter pilot isn't able to "control torque" on a big, heavy 4-bladed bird like that with the collective and cyclic? Care to comment on the obvious "turbine engine upgrade" of the aircraft at 2:12 which is a "general aviation" type of "upgrade" that in any "regulated" general aviation environment would immediately make that an "experimental" aircraft? How about the "early failure" of a part/component in such an "experimental" aircraft that clearly did NOT have a "tail rotor gearbox failure" and was already "rotating" before CLEARLY "power" rather than "control" was lost causing it to "stall" and fall out of the fucking sky. At least one "Aussie" assclown here in the U.S. was until recently playing with those "turbine repowers" as well as "rebuilding" damaged and "timed out" rotor blades for those DINOSAUR "Sikorsky" helicopters that were "old" and "obsolete" in the 1960s.
Apparently he found "greener grass" elsewhere and "sold out" some of his "vintage" Sikorsky "scrap metal" including a couple of airframes to Kermit Weeks. There's video of the "inspection" and "sales pitch" right here on UA-cam if you search "Kermit Weeks' Hangar" and "Sikorsky". And prominently featured is a turbine "repower" the Aussie "entrepreneur" claims was used for "balancing rebuilt rotor blades" only or some bullshit. He does "mention" that the "upgrade" also overspeeds the main rotor and of course by extension the tail rotor as well but doesn't seem too concerned.
So how much of an armchair expert are YOU, Mr. Rotorhead? Did you even WATCH the fucking video which CLEARLY is not ALL from "1993" if you have any clue that in "1993" there weren't "fluorescent green" safety vests for "high visibility" in both DAYLIGHT and NIGHTTIME working environments.
And sure as FUCK not in the "UK" where there probably isn't even a "2nd shift" worked anywhere in the country much less a THIRD. You also rarely find those safety vests worn "alone" with no hardhat, safety glasses, hearing protection etc by anybody but "posers" who are pretty much "dressing for the part" as they try to "rewrite history" and make a "1993" video that is so obviously "filmed" with digital camcorders in multiple "scenes" it isn't even fucking funny. Just a little hint. The "live on location" video should never be "higher quality" than the "in-studio video" and the latter should never look like "home video" with "VHS" while the former looks like "HDTV".
So why don't you run the fuck along and stop your pathetic "intimidation" tactics that are about as apt to "scare off" any "armchair expert" who bothered to watch a "video" from "1993" you clearly did NOT as you are to "out-expert" anybody who knows even the BASICS of how a "whirlibird" operates.
Get a grip. I'm sure you'll be grateful enough when they are dropping supplies when you get cut off by snow.
i remember this very well. i knew one of the cadets who died, he was in my year at school. i remember the school assembly on the monday after the crash.
Monday after? It was in the middle of the school holidays 🤔
@@hoppyoframmymonday back at school after the crash
Thanks Quinn!
That is a big problem with helicopters. With an airplane, a complete failure of all engines results in a glider. In a typical helicopter, the slightest failure of the tail rotor is usually catastrophic, while the tail rotor is small and vulnerable and is located at the end of a long and complicated drive shaft.
Did look like he managed to regain control, though, just before it hit the water.
Not so much with the surviving, more with the horrible deaths.
omg.. i remember this i was a cadet camping at RAF base in south of wales at the time.. we were supposed to go out in a chopper but it was cancelled cos of this accident.. had to phone our parents to let em know it wasnt us..
Yeah, most helis that autorotate because of say - engine failure, tail rotor failure, the landings are not always perfect landings, most helis normally loose the tail, or roll over :( and alot more structual damage can happen due to stress ans tension on the fuselage.
how are you supposed to deal with that when the helicopter has just broken? that was best case senario as if they hit solid groud they would all be dead for sure
it certainly is my man.
spelt with an A.
nice to have that one cleared up...
tail rotor failure ? wouldn't a auto-rotation prevent from spinning?
Autororation will slow descent rate but won't reduce the spin speed
Your welcome my friend. Pleased to have the opporunity to share.
They still used the wessex in the 90's?
For less important jobs like training yes because that didn't matter if they were out of date but for more important jobs they were mostly replaced by the more modern Sea King
WHY DO PEOPLE COMMENT SO MUCH?
@provo6767 wasnt it two cadets?
So what was the follow up? Does anyone know what the investigation turned up? I suspect SnackPimper is probably right, but would like to hear the "offical" report.
Damn that Westland chopper is YEARS old!!
@dropkickmurphy01 #1, I'm sorry but my mastering of Spanish (my native language) made me wrong. #2 again, I'm sorry, I was thinking on entering A/R (just in case of a misspelling) ONLY BECAUSE OF THE T/R, but it's possible as you say. #3 For 22 years I've been an engineer and crewman on UH-1B, UH-1H, B-212 (Griffen), HC Mk2 and AS-365 (Dauphin) this for only a short time. Now I'm retired, as well as our Mk2's, but only after a very rich life here in the south. Beautiful machine to fly.
That looked like tail rotor failure. Not a lot you can do to oppose rotor torque then... The only way out is to chop the rpm and hope to perform the best autorotation you can. Leave the power on and the machine will whip itself to death in faster and faster pirouettes.
@comptur about the rich life I refer to the Old Ladies, as RAF people refered.
he could have auto'd with enough forward airspeed, you can actually auto when you loose the tail rotor, its just alot harder to regain control when your low and dont have much airspeed, if he had been higher, and had a greater airspeed he would have been able to auto.
rest in peace
RIP - very sad story.
Sad
East lancashire wing.
Not the best aerodynamic shape for autorotation I suppose. Shame about the deaths and shame about those who thought it was funny.
imsasquath,...wot its australian made ??....i didnt know we made helicopter designs....
should have jumped out first the helicopter creates a vortex that pulls them down but thats easy for me to say
Towley12 say "Lol, you what?" Lol... me pilot, me fly airplane with no power first day in training, you not know what you say! :P
Are you American?
yes but the common man cant tell te differnce, elevator or nose up rudder people would just nick theyr heads.
Michael Buerk you legend!
@rhysybum yes thats right.
The reason it crash was maintenance use the wrong grease on the tail rotor.
Was this found to be the actual fault?
How did it affect it?
and accelerate their own descent? hahaha
probably after droping from the heli they would be topped over by it.
Whirlwind
30 year old chopper = no autorotation. They need an upgrade...
hhahah..i bet that did suck getting right back into a helicopter..haha..but i feel bad for the kids tho..
Dusty6y,i'll at to your comment...very nice crash...
If the soldiers are wearing choclate helmets!
nice
proof :D
huhu
Sea Kings my friend, Sea Kings.
lol!
lol. i bet
Grow up!
That's not training- that's old junk! Some things just shouldn't carry extra people.
taken to hospital IN A HELICOPTER.....just what they want to get back into....lol
ha ha ha! they were taken to a hospital by helicopter. i'm sure they were excited to get into another chopper asap
thts funny isnt it... helicopter crash so they take em to hospital in another helicopter
do not join the army cadets it sucks!!!!