Posted on 06/28/2026 6:33:39 AM PDT by Red Badger
June 28 (Reuters) - A helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco crashed on Sunday in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast on the Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz, killing 14 nationals, the state news agency reported, adding that the cause was unknown.
Aramco had resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after they were halted for nearly four months.
"The relevant authorities have launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the crash," the state news agency added. Aramco did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment. The incident took place at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the state agency said, without providing further details.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Aviation ping............😥
A helicopter is 10,000 parts looking for a reason to fail.
You don’t actually ‘fly’ a helicopter. You mange to keep it from crashing in between landings............
I’m wondering if maybe this one was shot down by an Iranian drone or crashed into one. It was near the Strait of Hormuz......................
That would make complete sense.
I would imagine if that’s the case, the Iranians would probably be bragging about it.
They just can’t help themselves.
Helicopters are an indespensible solution when the problem can only be solved by vertical take-off and/or landing.
That aside, everything about a helicopter, from initial cost to fuel consumption to maintenance costs, is 3-5x greater than a fixed-wing aircraft of similar capabilities. So people don’t usually opt for a rotary-winged solution if there’s also a fixed-wing answer.
Tilt-rotors could play the same role, probably with better safety (at least in civilian applications) but they’re more expensive up front. Electric tilt-rotors might bring down the entry fee on tilt-rotors but they’ve got baggage of their own.
In the end, flying is an unnatural act and will never be completely safe.
“If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on the fence and watch the birds.” — Wilbur Wright
You don't "land" a helicopter, you merely vector it to the crash site.
The Saudis are always buying more military equipment because they don’t perform required maintenance. When some thing breaks, or crashes, the Saudis will blame God for their failure to perform basic maintenance. Riding on a Saudi airframe is flying on a wing and a prayer.
They don't "do" aircraft maintenance, military or otherwise. Foreigner-provided maintenance is always built into their purchase contract. For both aircraft and all hi-tech military equipment.
All the oil-rich Arabian counrties are the same. That's why they all have such a high immigrant population. If they don't teach it in American high shool shop class, the Arabs hire it done.
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