Posted on 01/26/2020 2:53:27 PM PST by Duke C.
According to the ADSB transponder data he was following the 101 Fwy to Thousand Oaks. Then suddenly turned and dropped rapidly. Last data point shows he was dropping at 4,000 FPM which is pretty extreme...
Well that is a bit embarrassing.
I did not know much about him, but I feel awful for his poor little daughter.
ATC may have screwed up by giving him a Special VFR Clearance.
https://pilotworkshop.com/tips/special_vfr_clearance/
Right. Flame out. That sound I would not describe as a sputter. Piston engines sputter.
It has been almost half a century since I have done a simulated engine failure and an emergency autorotation and unless aerodynamics have changed dramatically since then, the blades do not stop and reverse direction for an autorotation to occur.
It can as long as there is sufficient rotor RPM (in the green) to pull pitch at the proper altitude to cushion the landing. Low altitude auto rotations are tricky under the best of conditions. Throw in IMC and rough terrain and your chances of auto rotating to the ground successfully are greatly diminished.
My best guess at this point is that the pilot pulled the guts out of the engine, induced a compressor stall (maybe) and bled off rotor rpm in an attempt to gain altitude in an IMC condition over (known) hilly terrain. No rotor rpm- you drop like a brick.
Sounds like he should have never taken off under a special VFR flight plan. to begin with.
Plenty of folks have watched that video and believed. I hope he went much faster, with less time for terror.
He was following I-5 to the Van Nuys area then was cleared to follow 118 for awhile (never was over 118 proper) then was following the 101 towards Thousand Oaks (his destination I hear) when he veered off 101 at Los Virgines Road...mistook Los Virgines Road for Hwy. 101 maybe?
Track:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n72ex#23a8271e
ATC: https://youtu.be/B0pQfgi9ZqU
Photos: https://www.helis.com/database/cn/51524/
Had been repainted a lighter blue/white scheme since the dark “Nike” scheme in these photos.
Maybe they ran out of gas from circling downtown so many times?
IMC?
32 ft/se/sec for rocks and feathers
very good observation
ATC may have screwed up by giving him a Special VFR Clearance.
I worked ATC in the 70’s with Army aviation. Those pilots could fly thru anything, and often did in their Cobras. Everything, everything, is at pilot’s discretion. You don’t have to fly if you don’t like the situation.
From what little we are given, this seems to be pilot error, made more difficult by scattered scud.
I saw a video on the local news (I live in L.A.) that suggested to me that the pilot followed the wrong road - - that’s my speculation - - and when he realized it he turned into a problem.
We will see. Meanwhile, we will grieve for all the lost souls.
Yes, that was very tragic...It appears from the reports he was a good father to her and the other children.
I feel very sorry for his wife, now with the children and the infant.
As in my earlier post, I believe you are correct.
I don’t know the avionics of his bird, but I can’t help to think that he would have had terrain. All accounts seem to indicate a mechanical failure or loss of lift due to turning. (I’m also a chopper pilot). It’s like a parachutist who turns and the lift isn’t straight up but horizontal, so he falls quicker. Helicopters do the same thing.
Instrument Meteorological Conditions.
In this case, Inadvertent, meaning that the pilot supposedly filed for (Special) VFR flight rules in an attempt to fly below the clouds and went Inadvertent IMC into the clouds (an emergency situation that calls for immediate leveling the aircraft, begin a climb, maintain airspeed and heading, then and only then contact ATC and declare Inadvertent IMC and squeak emergency code 7700.
No telling what really transpired though. NTSB will investigate the crash site, gather voice recordings, flight plans and retrieve the flight data recorder.
Approximately 6000 people die every day in the USA. I can’t understand why a sports figure is any more important than the rest of them. Did he cure cancer, walk on water, etc. No. he just got rich playing basketball. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t make his demise a tragedy. Entertainment figures have been dying in general aviation air crashes for many years Will Rogers, Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline etc. sad but nothing special.
Thats a 2018 video from middle east.
If I recall correctly, a news reporter on TV today said he was flying to Calabasas for some kind of event at a basketball academy he ran in Calabasas. If that is true, then the altitude data appears to show odd behavior by the helicopter, which gains 800 ft. of altitude in three minutes up to around 2125 ft., then drops suddenly to 1700 ft. That’s strange that the chopper would be climbing that fast if they were close to the destination of the flight, inside Calabasas, which is not a real big city.
It’s a horrible tragedy, and I hope the NTSB can figure out what really caused the crash.
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