How NOT to moor up at the local pub

[pquinn]

Is it legal for a PPL(H) to fly with any alcohol at all in their veins?

It may be illegal but somebody that tries to land a helicopter twice practically on top of a pub ,miles from anywhere was probably pissed to start with.

[AlanWT]

I always thought the most dangerous part was the jesus nut (so called because that's the first thing said when it fails)

 

Is that the one that holds the rotor on?

[Jess--]

 

Is that the one that holds the rotor on?

yup

[nicknorman]

Not on most modern helicopters, but yes on hueys and the like (think Vietnam).

[bigste]

I did think it would be an interesting one when I first posted it. My own view is that he has just got to be pissed to try that. Apparently after the first attempt and go round someone cleared the table for him. Crazy but true.

[nicknorman]

I did think it would be an interesting one when I first posted it. My own view is that he has just got to be pissed to try that. Apparently after the first attempt and go round someone cleared the table for him. Crazy but true.

Not necessarily - plenty of sober folk do stupid things like that - they just got their licence and then think they can do anything, whilst being totally oblivious to the hazards of confined areas, and/or have more money than sense. You see the equivalent people in the boating world although usually the outcome is less catastrophic.

[Guest]

Not necessarily - plenty of sober folk do stupid things like that - they just got their licence and then think they can do anything, whilst being totally oblivious to the hazards of confined areas, and/or have more money than sense. You see the equivalent people in the boating world although usually the outcome is less catastrophic.

What are the likely penalties for pulling an idiotic stunt like that, presumably the pilot loses his licence for at least a long period of time can they get it back?

[nicknorman]

What are the likely penalties for pulling an idiotic stunt like that, presumably the pilot loses his licence for at least a long period of time can they get it back?

Well first you have to decide what you want to prosecute him for. It is not illegal to land in the grounds of a pub (with the owner's permission) per se. So I guess it's some fairly generic dangerous flying charge and the likely outcome would be a fine and ban, but the severity would obviously be up to the court's judgement of how serious the offence was. And of course he will be prosecuted in Ireland presumably, not the UK.

 

Its a failure of judgement. You could perhaps say it is not unlike bumping your car into another's car in the pub carpark. If you were being careful but nevertheless misjudged it, you wouldn't expect to be prosecuted. However if you screamed into the pub wheels spinning, handbrake-turned it into a space but missed, you would likely be prosecuted (if there was adequate evidence like CCTV).

[mayalld]

Well first you have to decide what you want to prosecute him for. It is not illegal to land in the grounds of a pub (with the owner's permission) per se. So I guess it's some fairly generic dangerous flying charge and the likely outcome would be a fine and ban, but the severity would obviously be up to the court's judgement of how serious the offence was. And of course he will be prosecuted in Ireland presumably, not the UK.

 

Its a failure of judgement. You could perhaps say it is not unlike bumping your car into another's car in the pub carpark. If you were being careful but nevertheless misjudged it, you wouldn't expect to be prosecuted. However if you screamed into the pub wheels spinning, handbrake-turned it into a space but missed, you would likely be prosecuted (if there was adequate evidence like CCTV).

 

Whilst the landing was clearly not an appropriate one to attempt, it remains to be seen whether the outcome is as a result of getting the landing wrong, or whether a mechanical failure happened at the wrong time.

 

If the latter, then one would imagine that the consequences are not as a result of crashing, but as a result of executing a dangerous landing.

 

In other words, had he landed OK, and the footage emerged, he would still have been in the mire.

[nicknorman]

Whilst the landing was clearly not an appropriate one to attempt, it remains to be seen whether the outcome is as a result of getting the landing wrong, or whether a mechanical failure happened at the wrong time.

 

If the latter, then one would imagine that the consequences are not as a result of crashing, but as a result of executing a dangerous landing.

 

In other words, had he landed OK, and the footage emerged, he would still have been in the mire.

I suspect the mechanical failure you are seeing is the result of something hitting the fenestron fan blades, whether it be a fixed obstacle or some debris (chunk of wood etc) blown up by the main rotors in proximity to the building. However we can't be sure either way.

[Top cat]

A good pilot takes the possibility of a mechanical failure into account and flies so that he can land safety in the event of one. Thats not to say one can anticipate all eventualities but as the well known saying goes. "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots".

 

Top Cat

[MtB]

If the pilot was pished, what is the likelihood of this being spotted and proved?

 

Are the police entitled to breathalise a pilot after an air crash? Is anyone likely to breathlise them in a timely enough manner?

[RLWP]

If the pilot was pished,

 

Why do we think he was? After all he was going to the pub, not away

 

Are you suggesting you need to be drunk to do silly things? I can provide plenty of evidence to the contrary. For instance, I can show you some scars

 

Richard

[nicknorman]

A good pilot takes the possibility of a mechanical failure into account and flies so that he can land safety in the event of one. Thats not to say one can anticipate all eventualities but as the well known saying goes. "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots".

Top Cat

It's pretty hard to cope with a tail rotor failure in the hover though, that's always likely to be a crash of some sort. And it could be said that the guy in question did land safely since no-one was seriously injured!

[RLWP]

A good pilot takes the possibility of a mechanical failure into account and flies so that he can land safety in the event of one.

 

This was brought home to me reading the books by Richard Bach* about owning and flying old biplanes. It would seem most of his flight was dedicated to working out which field he could land in when the engine cut out

 

Richard

 

*Jonathan Livingston Seagull

[Scholar Gypsy]

I'm rather going off my idea of buying a drone ....

[RLWP]

I'm rather going off my idea of buying a drone ....

 

I wonder if you know what the conversations are amongst people watching flying photographic drones? From experience, they usually include nets, arrows and shotguns

 

Richard

[Top cat]

It's pretty hard to cope with a tail rotor failure in the hover though, that's always likely to be a crash of some sort. And it could be said that the guy in question did land safely since no-one was seriously injured!

Thats why you dont try and put a heli down in a confined space like that.

 

T C

[nicknorman]

Thats why you dont try and put a heli down in a confined space like that.

 

T C

But you do. Landing in confined areas is part of basic helicopter training. Even if you are not in a confined area, if you have a tail rotor failure* in the hover you will almost certainly crash, having rolled over and smashed the rotors to bits. The aircraft will be a right-off.

 

*Tail rotor drive failure, or the failure of the tail rotor itself, not a tail rotor control failure which is usually much more benign.

[Rufford]

Should have gone to spec savers....

[Iain_S]

It's pretty hard to cope with a tail rotor failure in the hover though, that's always likely to be a crash of some sort. And it could be said that the guy in question did land arrive safely since no-one was seriously injured!

 

Nothing bent : landing

 

Airyplane bent : arrival

 

Pilot not able to walk away : crash

[MtB]

Yes. I've heard it said that any landing you can walk away from is by definition, a good landing.

[pquinn]

Pilot was arrested in the airport trying to leave the country.I reckon that sums it up.And im fairly sure that it was a public towpath and not a pub garden.The pub backs on to the canal.

[KevMc]

Pilot was arrested in the airport trying to leave the country.I reckon that sums it up.And im fairly sure that it was a public towpath and not a pub garden.The pub backs on to the canal.

and he was later released

[furnessvale]

and he was later released

The Bail Act virtually guarantees a persons release, even for murder, unless a court can be satisfied that the offender will abscond, commit further offences, interfere with witnesses etc. Onus on the prosecutor to prove that may happen.

 

George ex nb Alton retired