Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

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John Hill
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Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#1 Post by John Hill » Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:11 am

Been in data comm since we formed the bits individually with a Morse key.

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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#2 Post by CharlieOneSix » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:24 am

The accident apparently happened on final approach to landing. They all swam ashore.
Southern Lakes Helicopters operations manager Lloyd Matheson told Stuff it was understood the helicopter crashed into the ocean, about two minutes out from landing on Enderby Island, just north of Auckland Island.
465km south of New Zealand - that's quite a distance for a night helicopter medivac in poor weather in a remote area and presumably with no P3 Orion top cover until they were overdue. If reported correctly it was also a single pilot crew.
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#3 Post by ian16th » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:11 am

Just played with Google Earth and the Wiki entry for Auckland Island.

Some very lucky people alive today.
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#4 Post by FD2 » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:23 am

I don't know what instrument fit they had but a final approach to an unlit landing site at night would be very difficult. Come to that I still have no idea what type of helicopter they were using. Obviously no diversion and maybe even PNR stuff but who was supplying the destination weather at the decision point? If they all got out then it must have been a slow speed ditching so perhaps CFIT due to disorientation? No doubt the CAA will be all over a high profile accident like this....maybe even makes a case for a dedicated SAR machine to be based in each island. Great news they survived the ditching though.

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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#5 Post by FD2 » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:20 pm

From the New Zealand Herald this morning:


https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12224682

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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#6 Post by ian16th » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:57 pm

Is this going to be the understatement of 2019?
"It's an unbelievable result. I think there'll be a couple of drinks had tonight."
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#7 Post by CharlieOneSix » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:27 pm

Nothing definitive in any of the reports but I think the helicopter was a BK117.
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#8 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:36 pm

From Stuff:
......Once on land survival instinct kicked in. They built a hut, and waited to be rescued.
"We just did what we did and survived," he told Stuff.
Really resourceful, these Kiwis. I remember on our survival course we we taught how to make a tent and sleeping bag out of a parachute - but making a hut overnight? Amazing! :D

Incidentally, I always did wonder about the usefulness of teaching helicopter crews how to use a parachute in a survival situation!
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#9 Post by Undried Plum » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:51 pm

I remember that in the dinghy drill pre-briefing we were taught how to use the fishing kit. We were immediately told that you must never eat the fish because digestion of protein consumes large amounts of water and you are going to die of thirst anyway long before you die of starvation.

Then they showed us the puncture repair bungs and told us that the principal cause of punctures is use of the fishing kit. :-\

They also said that the tin of water wasn't just any old water. It was mineral water with added electrolytes. Comforting to know, when you are afloat on the sea, that you've lugged along your own supply of sodium chloride. :-B

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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#10 Post by ian16th » Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:36 pm

Undried Plum wrote:
Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:51 pm
I remember that in the dinghy drill pre-briefing we were taught how to use the fishing kit. We were immediately told that you must never eat the fish because digestion of protein consumes large amounts of water and you are going to die of thirst anyway long before you die of starvation.

Then they showed us the puncture repair bungs and told us that the principal cause of punctures is use of the fishing kit. :-\

They also said that the tin of water wasn't just any old water. It was mineral water with added electrolytes. Comforting to know, when you are afloat on the sea, that you've lugged along your own supply of sodium chloride. :-B
Do survival packs still have Horlicks Tablets?

Outdated ones were given out to ground crew as a perq!
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#11 Post by Karearea » Thu Apr 20, 2023 7:21 am

BK117-C1, ZK-IMX Controlled Flight into Terrain (Water), Auckland Islands, 22 April 2019

Report Publication Date 20 Apr 2023 -

https://www.taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2019-005
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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#12 Post by FD2 » Thu Apr 20, 2023 11:06 am

Amazing stuff - a brave attempt but there seem to be a few things wrong with the mission!

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Re: Helicopter ditched in Great Southern Ocean

#13 Post by CharlieOneSix » Thu Apr 20, 2023 11:43 am

Unbelievably the Radio Altimeter did not have an aural warning, just a visual light in the instrument - and we know how small those are. If it had been fitted with the North Sea standard equipment it would have had an aural "Check height" at the pilot determined bug height, plus the fixed "100 feet" warning. It would probably have saved the helicopter....

Unless I've missed it the helicopter did not have a radar installation. He seems to have relied on a GPS map display to clear the surface area for his descent. Without making a decision height allowance try that without radar in the North Sea in an IMC descent and you could possibly get surprised by the leg of a jackup rig under tow passing the cockpit window in cloud at about 500ft altitude ...it's happened!
Constellation_1.jpg
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