safety Archives - The Rotary Wing Show Podcast

April 29, 2022April 29, 2022

RWS 109 – Going Beyond the Social Media Clip – Pasadena PD Accident (2012) with Dan Parsons

Dan Parsons is an airport safety professional where he tackles airport safety and regulatory issues all day long.

You have probably seen the video clip on social media multiple times – a OH-58 comes into land and as it touches down the blades contact another helicopter ground running beside it. Both aircraft are destroyed in spectacular manner but luckily there is no loss of life. In this episode we give a lot more context than you get from the seconds long clip.

There are a handful of helicopter videos that get recycled frequently on social media groups – yes we have all seen the BK117 toe into the steep snow slope to affect a rescue, there is no need to post it as if it is brand new 🙂

One of these video clips is of an accident that occured in 2012 between two Pasadena Police Department OH-58 (Bell 206 similar, in the episode I mistakenly refer to Bell 407) machines. The video clip is only a few seconds long and is a good example of just how quickly things can go wrong in a helicopter. Inevitably after the video is posted on social media the comments start to pile on fast and there are strong opinions thrown around.

Dan Parsons is an airport safety geek and works in the field. I saw his LinkedIn comment some time ago and his write up of the circumstances surrounding the accident and the steps taken afterwards to prevent a recurrence. In this episode Dan and I talk about some of the investigation findings and, very carefully, speculate on some of the factors. The goal here is to learn from others and to try and protect ourselves from getting into the same situation.

Source: aviation-safety.net – Aftermath of the collision and a good angle to see the positioning of the marked landing spots.

The photo above shows part of the aftermath of the accident and ground markings at the heliport at the time. Compare this to Google Earth imagery now to see the massive reworking of pad locations and marking that happened afterwards as a risk treatment.

Next time you see this clip on social media you will know a lot more of the context and if you can’t help but comment on it, then we can improve the quality of conversation and lessons learnt for all of us.

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Accident Review: Pasadena PD Helicopter Collision – Dan’s article

Collection of accident information and photos of the incident

Case Study Risk Identification – this is safety course assignment based on the Pasadena PD 2012 accident with a lot of background information and investigation findings.

Longer before and after video of the accident. I hadn’t seen this particular video at the time of recording the interview but again it gives additional context over the short clip normally shown on social media.

What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Help yourself remember and share it with others by making a comment about it here below.

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021

RWS 108 – Sharing an Apache Cockpit with a Burning Flare with Clive Richardson

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Now a helicopter instructor in the UAE, Clive Richardson flew Apaches in the British Army and was part of the Blue Eagles helicopter display team.

As aircrew we spend a huge amount of time training for different circumstances and emergencies. Dealing with a burning flare in your cockpit fired from a wingman’s aircraft is not one of these circumstances!!

Add in the complications of being a few thousand feet in the air, over hostile controlled land and in a sealed Apache cockpit with your own personal weapon ammunition at risk of cooking off and you have a fun time ahead of you.

This is the situation Clive Richardson found himself in. Perhaps strangely enough his prior HUET experiences in the pool dunker kicked in to some degree.

Meanwhile in the front seat of the Apache, unable to see what is going on in the back other than a lot of smoke in the mirror and no comms (Clive’s intercom lead had become unplugged) and just after a large ‘bang’ , Clive’s co-pilot was trying to work out what the hell was happening.

10 Years ago today, marks the anniversary when I learned why you should always fly with your visor down.
Having a 2000 degree magnesium spectral flare smash into your face at the speed of a low velocity round, while over Helmand Province with no landing options will usually focus you mind.
After hitting my visor with such force I smashed my head off the opposite window the flare melted my chest rig before causing a fire in my navigation bag containing 150 rounds of ammunition. The fire persisted and filled the cockpit with black acrid smoke. I held my breath and was able to shake the still burning flare out of my nav bag to the floor. After burning my trousers and melting my boots it eventually burnt out. So glad the Apache was not equipped with a cockpit fire extinguisher…..but at least I had a visor! If you fly with a visor, use it! – Original LinkedIn Post

Entry point of the flare through the lefthand windscreen with burn marks.

View from the inside of the Apache cockpit.

“You will note in the photo how only the lower part of my face was affected by the fire due to the visor and the hole in the bottom of my nav bag where the flare exited.” – Clive

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Clive flying the Apache for the Blue Eagles display team – YouTube

A slow motion look at the flares firing from an Apache. You can see the forward firing spread.

Clive in the cockpit. In this photo you can see the bulky visor housing on the front of the helmet. Crews would remove this so that they could attach the ‘modified’ NVG mount with single tube.

Clive’s desk at work. Left is the remains of the flare weight found in the nav bag. Right is a flare housing that would have been loaded into an Apache before missions.

(Left) Clive Richardson (Middle) One of the ground support crew (Right) Phil – front seat pilot/gunner

What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Help yourself remember and share it with others by making a comment about it here below.

August 10, 2021August 11, 2021

RWS 105 – Enroute Decision Point with Miles Dunagan

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Miles Dunagan is the President of the National EMS Pilots Association (USA) with a goal of promoting safety in the industry.

Chatter in the cabin starts to die down, you have reduced power and started to bleed back the airspeed. Outside your world is starting to shrink as the conditions start to deteriorate. You lean forward in your seat to try and see a little further ahead. The VSI is showing a descent as you keep visual contact with the ground. What do you do next?

Enroute Decision Point is a tool that you can use to shift your mindset into a deliberate decision making mode when you find yourself in deteriorating conditions. It aims to avoid the situation where the helicopter gradually gets into a worse and worse situation before a decision is forced upon us and risk has greatly increased.

Miles Dunagan is the President of the National EMS Pilots Association (NEMSPA) in the US. In this episode Miles talks about the history of the organisation and the origins of Enroute Decision Point as a safety tool.

Different from Point-of-no-return (PNR) or Equal Time point (EPT) which are calculated using a formula to define a point on the route leg – Enroute Decision Point is more a trigger to make a flight decision that could occur anywhere on the flight.

“Down by 30” – the first aspect relates to airspeed. If you have slowed down by 30kts or more from your cruise speed due to conditions.

Minimum enroute height – If you have already descended to the minimum enroute height for that leg. (May depend on the area you fly)

If either of these occur then it triggers an Enroute Decision Point. You can turn around to better conditions, land or transition to IFR recovery at a suitable airfield.

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National EMS Pilots Association – striving to help the Air Medical Transport industry prosper safely and enhance the delivery of pre-hospital health care

Outback Mike (Facebook page) – Past guest Mike Atkinson is on a solo survival expedition through the Great Barrier Reef dugout canoe.

What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Help yourself remember and share it with others by making a comment about it here below.

December 22, 2019April 21, 2020

RWS 80 – Influencing a Positive Aviation Culture with Natalee Johnston

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There are differing and some very academic definitions for what culture is. I like – “the way we do things around here”. This is a chat about organisational culture and how it impacts on aviation and specifically helicopter operations.

Natalee Johnston spent most of her time in the Royal Australian Navy as a Sea King pilot. A fatal crash of a RAN Sea King ‘Shark 02’ in 2005 brought with it an increased focus on culture within that Unit and the larger Navy Fleet Air Arm. As Natalee progressed in her career through pilot instructing positions, Flight Commander, Fleet Air Arm Flight Safety Officer and SQN Executive Officer roles she was observer many of the changes and the programs put in place from the findings of that accident investigation.

Now out of the Defence Forces Natalee is taking that knowledge and applying her background in the safety field for civilian organisations with a focus on human factors and the influence of culture on company or organisation performance.

Flight 2, 817 squadron on the flight deck of HMAS KANIMBLA with Seaking 10 and Seaking 22, on return to Australia from OPERATION PADANG ASSIST.

In this episode we cover:

Natalee’s Defence career and how she got a start flying helicopters
Culture – what is it / definitions / is it measurable
Why it is important and its impact on safety outcomes
What are the elements that make up culture
What individuals or leaders can do to influence a better culture
Culture as a competitive advantage
Women in Aviation organisation – goals / scholarships

Sea King Shark 22 – At work Shoalwater Bay

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assimilatedsafety.com – Natalee Johnston’s consulting company

2005 Sea King Crash Investigation – the executive summary from the Board of Inquiry highlights some of the causal themes that lead to an increased focus on ‘culture’ as a safety indicator/opportunity.

Women in Aviation – Australian Chapter – information about mentoring, events and scholarships provided by this organisation.

‘Just Culture’ concept is mentioned in the podcast. The video below is an expansion on that idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVWjgqDANWA

Life on the outside of Defence. Natalee trying her hand at plank driving.

Natalee with MRH90 crew for a flight into Milton Public school March 2018

WAI Australian Chapter March 2019 at Women in Aviation International conference

Have a comment or feedback about Episode 80? Maybe you have some great tips of your own that others can benefit from. Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.

November 21, 2019November 26, 2019

RWS 79 – Tackling Helicopter Aircrew Distractions with Kimberly Hutchings

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Kimberly Hutchings juggles flying helicopters, running a longline training school, family, being a physical trainer and speaking on safety for high risk industries.

Have you ever taken your eyes inside the cockpit to check a notification or had your preflight inspection interrupted by a phone call? Distractions of all kinds are increasingly a problem for aircrew and they are starting to show up in safety stats.

Picture for a moment – you are aircrew on a helicopter pre-1995 conducting a preflight on the ramp. For someone to distract you from your task they would have to come out onto the ramp and yell at you to get your attention. Chances are that unless something really important was up that your pre-flight would be uninterrupted.

In 2019 when you preflight you are likely to field calls from Mum asking why you haven’t called in a week, your wife/husband checking to see who is picking up the kids that afternoon and your boss wanting to know if you can work on Saturday. Then there are the social media post notifications, vibrations to let you know a new email has arrived and a recommendation from YouTube that PilotYellow has just posted a new video you might want to watch.

And that’s just on the ground. Bluetooth headsets, ipads and selfie taking passengers bring a new level of challenges to our ability to focus.

Distractions are enough of an aviation hazard now that the US NTSB include it as the first item on their Most Wanted List.

Kimberly Hutchings is a helicopter pilot, helicopter business CEO, speaker who holds a Bachelor of Psychology, a Masters of aeronautical science specialising in Human Factors and Safety systems and a Masters of Management w/ Organizational Behaviour and Leadership.

Kimberly regularly speaks to groups and companies around the dangers of loss of focus, distractions, emotional intelligence and mindfulness.

In this episode we look at what the problem is, how helicopters compare to other forms of transport and strategies to prevent our attention being pulled away from critical tasks.

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Volomission – Vertical Reference and Longline Training.

Kimberly Hutchings on LinkedIn.

NTSB Most Wanted List – more info on Distractions and the other top US aviation safety concerns.

Training at the Volomission ranch in Texas. Kimberly and her husband Andre run a dedicated external load and vertical reference school.

Helicopters are more like cars than aeroplanes when it comes to distractions from passengers.

Have a comment or feedback about Episode 79? Maybe you have some great tips of your own that others can benefit from. Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.

October 17, 2017

RWS 60 – 20 Crew Resource Management Diamonds with Randy Mains

helicopter crew resource management randy mains

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As helicopter systems, engineering and processes continue to get safer, the human component becomes the focus to further improvements in accident rates. Randy Mains shares his 20 CRM Diamonds in this interview.

Randy Mains was 22 years old when he deployed to Vietnam to fly UH-1H Hueys. On return to the US with over 1000 combat flight hours and a Distinguished Flying Cross (Randy shares the story of this in the interview) he found the US helicopter market flooded with other returned aircrew.

A night with a friend over a shared case of Australian beer resulted with Randy flying in Australia on remote outback cattle stations before a stint in PNG.

Later, souring of Iranian international relationships saw Randy leaving a Bell instructor trainer position on the last civil flight out of Iran. Taking up an emergency medical services (EMS) pilot role in Texas then became the start of Randy’s long and continued focus in this part of the industry. It is where much of the focus of his books and CRM training efforts are focused.

In the US the EMS sector seems to have a high proportion of single engine, single pilot VFR/IFR operations compared with twin engine, two pilot IFR operations in other countries. He has had a number of close calls himself including inadvertent IMC (flying into cloud) and approaching to night flare lit sites with overhead wires.

Randy’s later experiences flying in the middle east and simulator check and training with pilots from around the world gave him the chance to see how EMS is done in other countries.

Since then Randy has returned to the US with a focus on reducing the EMS accident rate and with in the helicopter industry in general. Randy is a regular columnist with Rotorcraft Pro magazine, a speaker at medical and helicopter events, author and runs a Crew Resource Management Instructor course focused on helicopters.

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Links from this week’s episode:
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Crew Resource Management Instructor Course
Randy Main’s Website

crew resource management error chain — “Antennas Up” – a visual prompt to remaining vigilant and looking for a link in the error chain forming

Do you have a question for Randy about helicopter crew resource management or about something mentioned in the episode that you want to ask? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.