Rotorcraft struck a drone at 1,500 feet near the intersection of Dobbins Road and Route 601 in Boonville, Yadkin County, North Carolina. Helicopter returned to Elkin Municipal Airport (KZEF), Surry County, North Carolina, and reported damage to rotor.
Hi Tech Helicopters Inc
Date: 23-JUN-22
Time: 14:59:00Z
Regis#: N2158T
Aircraft Make: SCHWEIZER
Aircraft Model: 269C
Event Type: ACCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: SUBSTANTIAL
Activity: UNKNOWN
Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)
City: ELKIN
State: NORTH CAROLINA
Wonder why they did not land immediately with a known rotor strike.
ReplyDeleteGood point. There are several open fields near that intersection according to Google Maps.
DeleteOn the other hand it's only 7.6 miles back to Elkins Muni Airport and depending on how the copter was handling he was willing to risk it. But then again that's over a lot of forested and hilly terrain between the accident site and Elkins. Not a smart move.
Tiny helo is easy to load on a rollback after making a precautionary landing as soon as drone strike happened. Risking it like that when you could instead set down right away and check won't be a good habit to repeat - normalization of deviation that others may emulate. "Hitting a small drone is okay, my buddy Frank hit one, no big deal, rotor blade was strong enough"....
DeleteI know the pilot “Sandy” Who is the chief pilot at HI-Tech helicopters have flown with him several time doing full down autos for my CFI. Like a 14000hr
DeleteGuy in jets and helos. I called him when we heard. Said there no vibration
So returned to the field. Said was wooded and hills where it happened. Hope they find the drone and Reg. Number!!
"Hope they find the drone and Reg. Number!!"
DeleteLet's wait and see if the drone operator/owner comes forward. The alleged altitude of the helo pilot was just 100' from the maximum legal uncontrolled airspace AGL limit of the drone. And as we pilots all know, just being one one hundredths of mercury off on the altimeter can mean that difference. Don't blame the drone pilot without more facts being presented.
Drone operation at a distance beyond where the person controlling it can perceive other nearby/intersecting aircraft and accomplish drone operator's basic see & avoid responsibility is a FUNDAMENTAL problem.
DeleteThe commercial drone delivery lobby is unintentionally providing some cover that keeps hobby drones viable for now, but this type of incident will lead to more restrictions. When the mercantile drone operators are ready to take to the sky in earnest a shutdown of lesser drone operators is assured.
To the anonymous person above that knows the pilot. Is he sure he actually hit a drone or could it have been a bird? Cruising along at 80 or 90 knots typical of a 269C how could he be sure it was a drone? Things happen fast, especially when you're not expecting it.
DeleteSeems like if he did have time to identify it as a drone he would have had time to take some kind of evasive action to try and avoid it? Did he say if the drone tried to take evasive action?
Not saying it's not possible but what are the odds of a drone being at exactly the same spot in 3 dimensional space at exactly the same time as a 2" or 3" thick rotor blade flying out in the country?
I’ve encountered a helium silver “Birthday balloon” above 10000ft at 250 kts Plus and their was absolutely no doubt identifying it. I’m sure he could ID a drone at 90kts or less.
DeleteLooking at a topography chart, the ridgeline in that area is approximately 1,000 MSL so the drone may have been at 400'AGL, and the helicopter claimed his height was 1,500 MSL. He could have been lower if the helicopter altimeter was not adjusted to the correct pressure.
ReplyDelete