Andy base for the Helicopter is not too far from the Clutha so it may have been flying back from somewhere else and it often goes along near the river, the Clutha is almost on the banks of the Clyde. On any given day I'll usually see the Police helicopter, its used very frequently indeed. Although a huge tragedy its probably not such a freak accident. The thing often appears to fly quite low, not hedge hopping stuff, but low enough that if it got into difficulties the pilot would have very little time to take corrective action. Couple that with a busy, dense city then anything going wrong is not going to end well. I heard one eyewitness say it dropped very fast and the rotors did not appear to be turning, so possibly gearbox or rotor related.
There always seems to be at least one major helicopter incident a year in GB . I wonder how many happen worldwide . Think they should probably have a rethink on the use of them over cities . They dont seem to be that safe anywhere as the mcrae or the hislop , amongst thousands of others no doubt, family will point out
Ah i gets ya………. Our Helicopter downhere crashed a few years ago 2 out of the 3 passengers died…….one crawled with a broken pelvis to raise the alarm…….the base is in quite a remote place but they hit trees to the rear of the base. I always wondered why the took off that way given that the other direction is open fields…. like this you wonder why they didn't go up and down the river if its that close to the base? but a tragedy non the less….
there was a heliopter crash down the road from here about 5 years back at kentalon the fella was returning to his estate over the hill from here, the pilot servived the fella didnt, the pilot married the widow shortly after you can imagine the rumers that where floating about then. my father inlaw, ian was involved in many accidents during his career one of wich involved an atempted murder investigation after crashing in glen coe the fuel was found to be contaminated possibly when parkd out side there home over night. the wife had not long got out of the thing. ian took a hart atack shortly after take off but managed to land but died shortly after in hospital.the story's he told me would chill your blood. i dont fly
Im sorry to say I had to take the scene photographs for that tragedy. A very sad loss of life as all such incidents are. In that case it was freak weather conditions which were the direct cause of the incident, nothing to do with human error or mechanical failure, just one of those very bad unfortunate incidents. In terms of Helicopter accidents, and in fact aviation in general, is broken into two camps, Private and commercial. Military, oil rig, passenger and emergency services flying is most definitely commercial. The aircraft are regularly professionally maintained at great expense by certified and licenced engineers. In the case of emergency service Pilots, they are usually ex military with many many hours of training and skillful flying under their belts. Indeed the pilot involved in the Glasgow incident was an ex Chinook pilot and Falklands war veteran. As far as operating over cities, All Police and ambulance aircraft are twins, meaning they have two engines and the capability to "fly away" should an engine fail. They are not allowed to fly below 500 ft Agl at night, or 300Ft agl during daylight hours, in addition they must remain at least 300 ft from the nearest object or building. There are also minimum lateral visibility and weather conditions. If the weather isn't good enough they don't fly. Contrary to popular belief if the donkeys stop on a helicopter It can glide but it takes the skill of the pilot to quickly recognise what is going on in order to deal correctly with the issue. That comes down to training. Private aircraft are also maintained regularly which is what makes flying a really expensive pastime. however, if you skip a service or fail to replace a part on a bike, it knocks a few quid off the value. Skip a service or part on an aircraft, its grounded. Its service logbook is fully documented down to the last detail. The variable in aviation is the experience, capability and skill of the pilot. In the case of Steve Hislop the accident was purely down to inexperience as was Colin Mccrae. its all in the reports published by the AAIB. I, likewise understand speculation in these matters but the skilled and detailed investigation will determine the timeline in this extremely tragic event. In the meantime my thoughts and sympathy is with those families left behind, and rest in peace all those souls who perished needlessly.
