Guest guest Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 Date: 12/17/2006 0630 CDT Program: County STAR Flight 7800 Old Manor Rd. Austin, Texas 78724 Type: EC145 Tail #: N378TC Operator/Vendor: Own Part 135 Weather: Clear. Not a factor Team: Pilot, Flight paramedic and pediatric specialty team members . No injuries reported. No patient. Description: STAR Flight 2 departed at 0620 local time to Waco Providence Hospital, with flight paramedic and two members of the Children's Hospital of Austin pediatric transport specialty team aboard. Weather at the time was VFR for the entire route, with good visibility and 8 knots of wind from the southeast. At ~0634 the crew experienced an audible “popâ€, simultaneous with moderate to severe airframe vibration. The vibration was audible in the cockpit and aft cabin as well. About 5 seconds after the onset of vibration the tail rotor gearbox chip caution light came on. No other secondary indications were noted. Austin Approach Control and Austin- County EMS Communciations was informed of the problem, that the crew was aborting the mission and would be landing at the town (Texas) airport. Upon arrival at the airport a uneventful no-hover landing in a grassy area, touching down at ~0637 local time. Shutdown and egress were normal. Initial post-flight inspection revealed a dynamic weight missing from one of the tail rotor blades. It appeared initially that the mounting spindle for the weight had broken. Additionally, the hinge pin on the intermediate gearbox access hatch was displaced about three inches upward from its normal position. No other abnormalities were noted at that time. The aircraft is currently being recovered for further inspection and repair. STAR Flight resumed service in STAR Flight 1 (EC145) after an inspection of the tail rotor assembly. Source: Casey Ping, Program Manager Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant LNMolino@... (Cell Phone) (Home Phone) (IFW/TFW/FSS Office) (IFW/TFW/FSS Fax) " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude " " Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people " Eleanor Roosevelt - US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962) The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless I specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for its stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the original author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 I can say this for StarFlight - they have a spectacular attitude towards maintenance - preventative or otherwise. Their hangar space is spic and span, organized and otherwise above-average for aircraft maintenance and storage facilities. It compares directly with American Airlines, if you've ever had a chance to visit one of their maintenance facilities - top notch. Good catch (although it's arguably hard to miss a pop, vibration and caution light) and I'm glad this was only a minor malfunction. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be one of the ones on board (to the rest of you flyboys: good on you - I want something that glides if something goes " pop " ). Although I disagree with some things A/TC does (as a citizen served), StarFlight seems to be a solid investment of my tax dollars that is well managed, well run and often pays off. Kudos to Casey et al. Mike > > Date: 12/17/2006 0630 CDT > > Program: County STAR Flight > 7800 Old Manor Rd. > Austin, Texas 78724 > > Type: EC145 > Tail #: N378TC > Operator/Vendor: Own Part 135 > > Weather: Clear. Not a factor > > Team: Pilot, Flight paramedic and pediatric specialty team members . No > injuries reported. No patient. > > Description: > STAR Flight 2 departed at 0620 local time to Waco Providence Hospital, > with flight paramedic and two members of the Children's Hospital of > Austin pediatric transport specialty team aboard. > > Weather at the time was VFR for the entire route, with good > visibility and 8 knots of wind from the southeast. > > At ~0634 the crew experienced an audible " pop " , simultaneous with > moderate to severe airframe vibration. The vibration was audible in > the cockpit and aft cabin as well. About 5 seconds after the onset > of vibration the tail rotor gearbox chip caution light came on. No > other secondary indications were noted. > > Austin Approach Control and Austin- County EMS Communciations > was informed of the problem, that the crew was aborting the mission > and would be landing at the town (Texas) airport. Upon arrival > at the airport a uneventful no-hover landing in a grassy area, > touching down at ~0637 local time. Shutdown and egress were normal. > > Initial post-flight inspection revealed a dynamic weight missing from > one of the tail rotor blades. It appeared initially that the mounting > spindle for the weight had broken. Additionally, the hinge pin on the > intermediate gearbox access hatch was displaced about three inches > upward from its normal position. No other abnormalities were noted > at that time. > > The aircraft is currently being recovered for further inspection and > repair. > > STAR Flight resumed service in STAR Flight 1 (EC145) after an > inspection of the tail rotor assembly. > > Source: Casey Ping, Program Manager > > Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET > FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI > Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant > > LNMolino@... <LNMolino%40aol.com> > > (Cell Phone) > (Home Phone) > (IFW/TFW/FSS Office) > (IFW/TFW/FSS Fax) > > " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude " > > " Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds > discuss people " Eleanor Roosevelt - US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962) > > The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and > the > author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or > organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with > unless I > specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended > only for its > stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials > retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain > by the > original author. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 The chip light alone would have likely grounded the bird a I understand it at lest at take off on a flight like that. Phil can you confirm that? Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant LNMolino@... (Cell Phone) (Home Phone) (IFW/TFW/FSS Office) (IFW/TFW/FSS Fax) " A Texan with a Jersey Attitude " " Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people " Eleanor Roosevelt - US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962) The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless I specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for its stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the original author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Depends in the machine. Most transmission and tail rotor chip lights will fall into the " Land as soon as possible " category, meaning park it at the first available safe place, i.e. farmer's field, vacant lot, etc. There are some chip detectors that have what is known as a " fuzz burner " . These devices zap the wire sized pieces that sometimes develop and are of no consequence. If the fuzz burns off, again depending on the machine, you can continue to fly. If the chip light comes on again or stays on, its back to finding a safe place to land. Most pilots take chip lights seriously. They tell you that things are not well internally and very few pilots want to have to make a no tail rotor thrust autorotation. Kirk EMT-B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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