Icewind Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 http://www.9news.com/story/news/investigations/2015/11/12/flight-for-life-helicopter-crash-frisco-colorado/75682782/ Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212wrench Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 If you don't crash the ASplat is a very safe machine. A plastic gas tank, wow. Condolences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Unfortunately retrofitting aircraft to meet new standards is not a realistic expectation. There are many helicopters that would never / don't meet today's standards. Are we just going to ground those aircraft? Who is going to pay for the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywork Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Unfortunately this is where the authorities and industry stand in the preservation of life. If this was video was of a motor vehicle there would be a mandatory recall as public and passenger safety would be paramount. It seems aviation is not high up on the list, and manufacturers have been great a their job in keeping the extra cost of rectifying the issue by lobby authorities. Between R44 and AS350 there has been a fair few fatalities around the world. Taking into account there are a lot more vehicles on the road than aircraft in the air and there is more chance of a fatality in a vehicle so for example not related to aircraft or vehicles, if you had a 10 seat cinema that screened movies 2 time a week, and it had potential to catch fire due to a type of heating system that was being used and it was a known problem due to previous fires these cinemas would be closed down until the system had been replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 There is a crash resistant fuel tank STC in the works as we speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliian Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Well, it only took how many flaming crashes in the R44 for them to finally do something, still a terrible design that can still catch fire during a crash. Then you have to look at the maintenance of the fuel system, was the tank saddled properly? The molded plastic design of the AS350 fuel tank isn't great but it's done it's job. Maybe they should make jet fuel safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just looking Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Unfortunately this is where the authorities and industry stand in the preservation of life. If this was video was of a motor vehicle there would be a mandatory recall as public and passenger safety would be paramount. It seems aviation is not high up on the list, and manufacturers have been great a their job in keeping the extra cost of rectifying the issue by lobby authorities. Between R44 and AS350 there has been a fair few fatalities around the world. Taking into account there are a lot more vehicles on the road than aircraft in the air and there is more chance of a fatality in a vehicle so for example not related to aircraft or vehicles, if you had a 10 seat cinema that screened movies 2 time a week, and it had potential to catch fire due to a type of heating system that was being used and it was a known problem due to previous fires these cinemas would be closed down until the system had been replaced. The fact is if there was a recall it would be in the form of an AD. I have yet to see any manufacture that pays for the full cost of an AD. Therefore depending on the cost this said AD could infect break a lot of operators as some AD's have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2007 Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 Lack of a crashworthy fuel system is not only applicable to the Astar, but also most models of the 206, 206L(s), 407, 212, 205, 204, AS355 (all variants), Hu 500's, etc, etc...... All are safe machines if you don't have a hard landing/crash. - Good thing that never happens. The military has made a crashworthy fuel system mandatory for over 15 years. What are you strapping your butt to? Demand better - your informed customers are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnie Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 I believe the 206 series, as well as the 204/205 and 212 have self sealing bladders in the tanks no? mil and civvy 205 series should have similar if not exactly the same tanks. designed to take bullets during war time, so should be pretty good for crashworthiness. Cheers H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2007 Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Some 206 series post 1981 incorporated CRFS, but prior to that there are no crashworthy features incorporated into the fuel system. The Bell 204/205 series was certified in 1960 and the 212 in 1968. The first civilian helicopter produced by Bell which incorporated a CRFS was the 222 in the 80's. There are significant differences between a "self sealing bladder" and Crash Resistant Fuel System. Fly safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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