Air ambulance pilot had to abort landing attempt

[NickN]

AN AIR ambulance pilot transporting two critically injured children was forced to refer to a flight manual after losing power during a landing at The Children's Hospital, Westmead.

The new $15 million Augusta AW139 helicopter, launched by Premier Nathan Rees in November, twice failed to land during a storm on Sunday, March 14.

On the third attempt it lost power to navigation instruments.

The pilot then had to refer to the helicopter manual and switch on a back-up navigational system. The landing was abandoned and the aircraft was flown to Sydney airport.

The children, who had been in a car accident that afternoon at Baradine, were then taken in separate ambulances 40km across the city back to the children's hospital.

The NSW Ambulance Service has told The Daily Telegraph the high-tech aircraft was hindered because it was night and there was a storm.

"The aircraft made two descents and . . . on each descent the pilot was unable to safely (see) the ground," a spokesman said.

"On attempting the third and final descent the aircraft suffered a loss of one of the three redundant sets of navigation instruments."

The pilot was then forced to refer to the helicopter's manual.

"The Ambulance Service NSW commends the pilot for referring to the manual," the spokesman said.

The mother of the two children declined to comment yesterday. At least one of the children remains in The Children's Hospital, Westmead.

The aircraft in question was immediately taken out of service and the problem had since been fixed, the NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

The $270 million fleet of helicopters has been plagued by problems since the State Government snubbed the long-serving Westpac Lifesaver and NRMA CareFlight services for Canadian company CHC last year.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in January that helicopter crews were collapsing with heat exhaustion on rescue flights because temperatures in the non-airconditioned cabins sometimes hit 50C. The extreme heat had caused crew members to vomit.

Last November, Mr Rees launched the first of three Augustas by saying: "It is a phenomenal aircraft which will allow our expert paramedics the greatest chance of saving lives and helping patients."

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html

[Owen H]

The pilot was then forced to refer to the helicopter's manual.

"The Ambulance Service NSW commends the pilot for referring to the manual," the spokesman said.

Gotta love it.

[David Ramsay]

If all else fails, read the manual.

[NickN]

Gotta love it aye!

There was a huge backlash against the government for choosing CHC, however this sounds like something that was not within their control when it happened i.e. bad maintenance.

Apart from this incident there hasn't been much else that I can remember that was negative about CHC after they took over.

[Jethro H]

Originally Posted by NickN

Gotta love it aye!
Apart from this incident there hasn't been much else that I can remember that was negative about CHC after they took over.

The media has run about 1/2 dozen stories since CHC started in NSW which seem to be spurred on by the State Opposition such as:

THE state's problem-prone ambulance helicopter service has hit another snag, with one of its choppers involved in an accident yesterday.

The crash comes after another malfunction just last month, which took two helicopters out of action in order to fix the problem, and the fleet is now down one chopper until a replacement is found after the latest incident.

Two pilots who were conducting ground training exercises about 9.30am yesterday encountered engine problems and landed badly, causing serious damage.

"The helicopter landed too hard and that was what damaged it. It was a complete write-off," a source said.

A spokeswoman for NSW Ambulance confirmed the incident.

"Whilst hovering one to 2m off the ground the aircraft began to vibrate and the pilot in command immediately set the aircraft down," she said.

"Whilst setting the aircraft down, the tail rotor and skids were damaged. No injuries were sustained and the extent of the damage to the aircraft is being assessed by engineers."

The $270 million fleet of helicopters has been plagued by problems since the State Government snubbed the long-serving Westpac Lifesaver and NRMA CareFlight services for Canadian company CHC.

Just last month one of the CHC helicopters made an emergency landing at St Albans when a warning light came on and another helicopter was forced out to pick up the patient.

In August last year the media revealed staff cuts had left the service unable to properly respond to emergencies.

Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner called for a full investigation to determine the extent of the issues within the fleet.

"This foreign helicopter service has been plagued with problems ever since the Iemma Government dumped the Careflight and surf lifesaver community helicopters," she said.

Another story I can find but is about some elevated helipads such as the one at Blue Mountains Hospital can take a max of 6000kg. The MTOW of the AW139 is 6400kg. I don't know how true it was as it came from the local Liberal candidate after the last election.

But more attacking the Government's choice, not CHC themselves.

[NickN]

I must have missed that one. I read the news each day but as I said, I was working off what I could remember which sometimes isn't much

[Mick F]

however this sounds like something that was not within their control when it happened i.e. bad maintenance.

I'd be very careful in criticising the maintenance of the aircraft Nick. Things like this, can be just as simple as a bit of wear and tear, or even an error when the chopper was built!

The number of problems I've had in my career so far which were absolutely nothing to do with maintenance of the aircraft, but simply wear and tear that had no obvious signs prior to failure, could go on for ages.

Putting it down to "bad maintenance" is a criticism I don't believe you have the authority to put forward.

As for the incident itself. I don't see why it even became newsworthy in the first place. The first 2 approaches were unable to be completed due to weather, which goes to show the professionalism of the crew, and the third encountered this problem which also sounds as though it were very professionally handled by the crew.

So overall, I don't see what the fuss is about. It's probably doing more to show the crew's professionalism than anything, which unfortunately, to the uneducated, would not be obvious at all (apart from 'reading the manual').

Mick

[NickN]

however this sounds like something that was not within their control when it happened i.e. bad maintenance

Thats why I said NOT within their control..... as in it wasn't their fault. I think you misinterpreted the context of my comment.